Dawn Squad Lightmass Offensive
by GaretStrife
Summary: The newly appointed Dawn Squad are sent to Embry Square, but soon relocated to the southern islands. What secrets do the COG have on these now locust infested isles? Follow private Dean Stratton and find out!
1. Springing Marcus

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 1

Bullets flew past Dean as the shriek of locust voices could be heard in the distance. He fell to the ground as a boomer shot an explosive charge against the concrete block that had provided him with valuable cover for the last few minutes.

Dean tasted dirt in his mouth but that was soon replaced with blood. He coughed red frothy blood that formed a small puddle in the ground below him. He had entered the prison with Dom to pick up Marcus, but he got separated from him and practically walked into locust central! He had only a few bullets left in his lancer and he emptied them into the approaching boomer! The weapon's chainsaw bayonet had stopped functioning due to damage taken earlier. Dean accidentally sawed through a gnasher shotgun and a drone and the metal from the shotgun had jammed his chainsaw.

The area was a mess. The buildings were falling apart from continuous locust attack and holes dotted the roof and walls. Dean crawled behind a wall and eyed a Hammerburst. He had always admired locust weaponry, the raw power they possessed and even their reliability, but he especially liked the Hammerburst. He had seen the weapon specs and even used one a few times in combat training. The weapon used a six bullet burst system with incendiary rounds that could easily punch through gear armour and even rend flesh! He picked up the gun and struggled to his feet. He slotted a new magazine into the chamber, happy he picked up ammunition. He was breathing heavily. He knew a few of his ribs were either cracked or broken. Blood covered his mouth. A locust leapt at him, claws extended in mid-air! Dean primed his new Hammerburst and with the six shot burst removed the locust's head. It's head exploded in a pink spray. Dean looked across the courtyard he stood in and fired another burst from his Hammerburst. The bullets penetrated the locust's torso, spraying the wall behind it with blood!

Dean fell to his knees. His vision began to blur as he saw a locust run towards him. With whatever strength he had left he raised his Hammerburst into the air and shot it between the legs! The locust fell and Dean blew it's head off, showering him with blood! Another locust ran around the corner. Dean thought that was it. Images of his brothers filled his mind and a smile came to his face. The drone lifted it's foot into the air but soon fell dead as Dom hurled his combat knife into it's right eye! Dom retrieved his knife. Dean felt strong arms lift him. He looked back as the ground began to open. Dom and Marcus barely made it to the King Raven as a Corpser emerged from the ground.

Dean's vision fixed on a man in white overalls. His face was covered with a surgical mask and blood stained his clothes "He's got three broken ribs! His COG tags state him as blood group A. Oh Christ he's only 18!" Dom hovered over him "He's in bad shape". Marcus tapped Dom on the shoulder "Who's the kid?" Dom sat beside him "A new recruit. Remember Jace Stratton? His cousin". Marcus shook his head and sighed "Ah shit".

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Dean awoke with a headache. He had a strange taste in his mouth which he couldn't for the life of him identify. His ribs were heavily bandaged. He looked around the room he was in. He lay in Jacinto Hospital. Colonel Hoffman approached him "What age are you son?" Dean replied "18 sir!" Hoffman laughed "Sure you're only a child! A sergeant will come by later to sort you into a squad". Dean tried to salute but his ribs erupted with pain. He simply replied pathetically "Yes sir!" Hoffman grunted as he left "These young lads nowadays". Dean looked to his bedside. There was a letter reading 'Get well soon you moron'. The letter brought a smile to Dean's face. There was no signature but he knew it was from Max, his childhood friend and fellow gear.

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Dean looked at the doorway to his room and noticed a soldier walk in. He was a large man with a gnasher shotgun strapped to his back and two revolvers, one on each leg. He wore a pair of glasses and sported a large scar down the right hand side of his face. "You Dean Stratton? Jace Stratton's cousin?" Dean nodded weakly and pathetically "Yeah" "I'm sergeant Neville Biggs. Welcome to Dawn Squad".

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Dean approached the King Raven that would take him and his other squad members to Embry Square. They were supposed to go in a clear the way for Delta so they could rendezvous with Alpha and secure the sonic device. Dean stepped into the chopper. His ribs were still giving him trouble but he ignored it for the most part. His friend Max was sitting cleaning the scope of his Longshot. Most considered him crazy, but a better sniper you'll never find. He never failed to kill something he aimed at. Sergeant Biggs was talking with the pilots. The fourth member of Dawn Squad was Gary Henderson. He stroked his chainsaw bayonet as though it was alive. He freaked everyone out, including sergeant Biggs! The final member was probably the youngest and most inexperienced member called Josh. He had an annoying habit of finishing off other peoples sentences, which pissed Dean off to no end. Dean sat on his seat near the open door and placed his hand on the handrail. He turned his head and noticed another person, a girl with long blonde hair sitting in the back. She was their contact in control. Her name was Rose.

He carried with him the Hammerburst he took back from Jacinto Maximum Security Prison and a Torque Bow given to him by his cousin Jace. He had a few arrows so he'd have to make them count.

Biggs turned to face his squad "Okay lads most of you haven't even been in a fight, with the exception of Dean and Max. Our job is to clear the way for Delta so they can receive the sonic device. Any questions?" The squad shook their heads. They knew what they needed to do. The King Raven lurched forward and then up as they flew off in the direction of Embry Square…


	2. Embry Square

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 2

The sound of the rooters was well known by most gears. This was the sound most of them longed for when they needed quick evac or when they were surrounded and needed air support. Dean was no different. He had some experience piloting a king raven but he sucked for the most part. His squad mates were quiet, the only ones willing to speak were Max and himself. Dean looked as they past over Jacinto. He saw hundreds of people walk the back streets. The buildings in the centre were in prime condition but the outskirts were a different story. The defences were normally built hastily after a locust raid in preparation for another.

Dean took a picture from his pocket. There were three boys in it with Jace in the background. Dean stood in the middle with his arms around the others, a broad grin on his face. The other two were his brothers. He worried greatly about them both. This was the last time they were together since the locust raid three years ago. He was the second oldest of four brothers, two of which were gears, Dean and his older brother. His younger brothers were lost after the raid and he spent his time on patrol looking for them. Dom knew how he felt and often took him on patrol. Dean used this as an opportunity to stock up a few favours by smuggling in propane tanks for needy families and even help other citizens locate their own families.

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and the picture into his pocket. He was handed a helmet by Sergeant Biggs but he hated them. He refused it and tied a black bandana to his head instead, given to him by none other than Marcus Fenix. Dean greatly respected men like Dom, Marcus and Jace.

His thoughts were interrupted by sergeant Biggs telling them to get ready. The king raven descended and touched down in Embry Square, near the Tomb Of The Unknowns. The courtyard he was in was at the back and they would need to go through the building to rendezvous with Alpha Squad. Dean looked around at the derelict buildings. He was only three years old when he and his family were forced to leave after E-Day, so he didn't have many memories of this place. He walked down the street and eyed the higher windows ominously. He thought he was only jumping at shadows and so far he was right.

He had a feeling in his gut that something wasn't right. He knew something was coming for them, something bad. Max held onto his Longshot tightly. He used the scoop as a set of binoculars more times than not.

Josh was looking at the area frantically. Dean felt pity for him, he knew how he felt, it was a feeling Dean had experienced all to often. However there was no place for fear on a battlefield. Nine times out of ten it got you killed. Dean wasn't sure if he could place his trust in Josh. Max was different however. He never allowed his emotions to get the better of him and was often the last gear to leave the battle. Max had once saved Private Cole's life by taking a Hammerburst salvo in the back! Cole tried to get him in Alpha but he was sent to Dawn, which comforted Dean to no end.

Biggs raised his hand and closed his fist. His squad stopped in their tracks and took whatever cover they could. An e-hole opened at the other side of the courtyard near the back door to The Tomb of Unknowns. Biggs looked through his binoculars and whispered "We have locust contact. Dean, Gary flank right. Max, Josh your with me". Dean ducked his head and crossed to the right side of the courtyard with Gary hot on his heels. Gary loaded his lancer "What you got weapon ways?" Dean checked his belt "I've got two frag and one flash, my Hammerburst and torque bow, what about you?" "I've got two flashers and an inker and my lancer". Dean heard Biggs voice on the radio "Okay, fire!" Dean counted to three, a time that seemed like a lifetime. He jumped up and shot a six round burst from his Hammerburst, caving in the chest of a drone! Gary jumped up and emptied a mag into two drones, severing one at the waist! The creature crawled for cover but it's head exploded in a pink spray. Max reloaded his Longshot. The ping of the bullet leaving the chamber and him reloading became a rhythm that he was a master of. Max didn't even look down his scope as he removed another head before reloading. Biggs shredded another with his gnasher shotgun!

The group covered their heads as a reaver flew overhead. Josh jumped up, tears in his eyes, but soon got dragged to the ground by sergeant Biggs "That's a reaver! Keep your head down!" Max got on the radio "Dean you still got that torque bow?" "Yeah, why?" "Stick an arrow in that reaver! You're the only one that has a high damage weapon that can take that thing out in one shot!" Dean exchanged his Hammerburst for his new torque bow. He slotted an arrow into the chamber. He waited for the reaver to make another pass. He charged the arrow and released it, hitting the underside of the reaver! It exploded, spreading blood and body parts over the courtyard!

Gray rolled to another bit of cover as a boomer walked from the tomb, releasing explosive projectiles while his voice echoed "BOOM!" Dean hit the dirt as an explosive charged detonated against his cover, blowing the concrete block to bits and leaving the stunned gear open to attack. Max noticed immediately and before he even knew what he was doing he was sprinting with all speed towards his friend. Dean got to his knees, his vision was blurred and he could hardly hear. A locust approached him, but Gary cut his legs off with his chainsaw and then planted his boot firmly in it's face, spreading locust brain around the ground and his boot. A locust took aim at Dean and hissed. Max dove at his friend and knocked him out of the way into cover. The locust hissed again as his bullet missed. Biggs ran around the corner and blasted him at close range with his gnasher! Dean's vision fixed on Max panting heavily beside him. Max patted him on the chest "Don't you ever say I wasn't there for you!" Dean caught his hand "Thanks man!" The two rose to their feet and fired upon the locust.

The theron hissed "Retreat!" Max jumped up and primed his Longshot "Yeah right!" He aimed down his scope and fired. The bullet flew through the air and removed the therons head, spraying the walls and floor with blood. Biggs gathered his squad "You fought well lads. Control we've just dealt with a squad of locust and are now heading into the tomb". Rose hit a few keys before replying "Hold on Dawn, Colonel Hoffman coming online". "Gears there's been a change of plans. Your to take your squad to the southern islands. That area has been dark for years and command have now released classified reports saying there was a weapons research lab that survived the hammer of dawn offensive untouched. Your to go in and gather whatever information you can. Understood?" Biggs shook his head "Yes sir, but what about Delta and Alpha?" "They'll get the job done! A King Raven is on route". Biggs sighed and turned to his squad "Were getting evac. Were going to the southern islands, a zone that's been dark for years". Dean cast his squad mates nervous glances "No communication for years? Lovely!" Max strapped his Longshot to his back "This shit sounds sketch, what we looking for?" Biggs adjusted his glasses "A weapons research facility that survived the hammer of dawn offensive intact". Gary was a keen weapons man himself "It survived the hammer of dawn offensive? Is that even possible?" Josh stayed quiet throughout this, he was still shook up from the battle.

The sound of helicopter rooters became more and more distinct. The king raven lurched forward and then descended. Dean and the others settled in for the long flight to the southern islands.


	3. A Friendly Face

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 3

Biggs had got the remainder of the mission details from command as they flew in the king raven. What they were looking for in particular were plans for a new weapon. There was no information regarding the weapon but they were told they'd know it when they saw it. Dean wasn't too happy with that response, after all, they were the ones risking their asses for something that could be no more than a few stranded rags and out of date documents. Dawn would have loved more info, especially on locust presence, but that would be nigh on impossible. Dean was beginning to understand why the area was called 'dark'.

The southern islands were a dark zone with small pockets of stranded scattered around the islands. The main city of Soteroa was now a bunch of bombed out ruins after the hammer of dawn offensive, but Dean knew those very ruins would hold an untold amount of locust, locust that would stop at nothing to see them dead! There was another problem that crossed Dean's mind. It was getting dark, and that meant Kryll. Every gear feared and hated the little bloodsuckers. The only thing they hated was light and that wasn't easily found outside at night. Dean tried to drive the thought from his mind and gripped his Hammerburst tightly, not that it would do a big lot against the Kryll, but he found comfort in it all the same.

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The king raven dropped them off on a secluded road, roughly thirty miles from the weapons facility. The road was surrounded on either side by tall dead trees. A cold chill ran up Dean's spine as he looked at the lifeless zone he found himself in. He began to wonder how the trees achieved the look. He pressed on, hoping he wouldn't become part of the desolate area. Biggs turned to his squad "Okay lads first thing first. We need to find some way to establish contact with control, any ideas?" Gary walked forward "There might be something we could use. The areas dark which means we don't get a response when we contact them. If we can find a communication base, it my be able to patch us through". Biggs adjusted his glasses, a habit he couldn't drop "Well restabilising contact with control is our top priority". Dean shook his head and voiced his opposition "Sorry sir but shouldn't finding light be our top priority? It's getting dark". Biggs sighed "Good plan Dean. Okay I saw a small village from the chopper on our way down. If were lucky it may be a stranded settlement. Let's move out!" Max took a small device from his pack. Dean recognized it as thermal goggles. "Hey serge, I've got something here but I ain't got a clue what it is" "Let's see. Ah fuck lambent wretches!" Dean looked at him, the confusion in his voice and upon his face was noted by others, especially Josh "Lambent? What the hell are lambent?" Max grunted "Wretches who have suffered from direct Imulsion exposure. They blow up when you kill them, so keep your distance!" Dean rolled his eyes, thinking this day couldn't get any better. First they were dropped off in what could possibly be locust central, and then his squad were just told they're were little creatures that blew up when killed, not to mention these little creatures could easily kill a fully grown man in a matter of seconds! Dawn pressed on with caution in their steps.

The group walked towards what looked like small tin shacks. As they expected a small settlement existed. The southern islanders were renowned as expert snipers, well at least they were before e-day. Now they were like everyone else, struggling to stay alive. The settlement was surrounded by a thick wall of wood that would even take the locust a while to get through. Biggs approached the gate, although it was only made of scrap metal the structure looked and did the part. Troika turrets were positioned on the towers of the gate, with two guards manning each one. The troikas were turned towards them "Gears? What you fascist pigs doin out here?" Dean couldn't for the life of him know why he recognized the voice, but then it clicked, he walked toward the gate with his hands in the air "Andy, Glen? That you?" The guards looked at each other and then smiled "Fuck me it's Dean! How you been lad?" "Bad. We need help". The guards opened the gate instantly "Come on in, you guys are welcome, thanks for the propane you got me last year". Biggs stared at him gravely "Propane? You've been supplying stranded with propane tanks?" Dean nodded, knowing he was in trouble. Biggs was known for being one of a very select few who followed the rules to the letter. He hated gears who broke these rules. He once charged a gear for insubordination for refusing to climb halfway down an e-hole to receive a geobot! Dean dropped his head "Yeah, but I've got my reasons". Biggs replied with obvious disappointment in his voice "It's against the law to provide supplies to stranded!" Glen walked towards them, removing his Boltok pistol from it's holster on his left leg "Hey back off the kid piggy. He's doin a better job helping us than the bloody COG did with that hammer offensive of theirs!" Andy approached Dean and placed his arm around him, leading him into the settlement "How's that older brother of yours?"

Dean walked through the settlement with his squad and the guards Andy and Glen. Dean looked at his old friends "How'd you guys end up out here? You were in Jacinto a few months ago". Andy sighed, the subject obviously saddened him "I couldn't stand living so close to the COG, besides the only ones that ever tried to help us were ourselves. It's a hard life but the locust hardly ever pass by here. You said you needed help? What do ya need?" Biggs started to speak but got silenced by a vicious glare from Glen. Dean turned to his sergeant "I got this serge. Andy we need to establish contact with control. We were sent here to investigate an old weapons research facility. Know where it's at?" Glen tapped Andy on the back, speaking quietly and slowly "He must mean that rundown joint roughly 25miles up the road. Remember the one we used before the locust overran it?" Andy nodded "You guys would be best to stay outta that place. It ain't even a research zone anymore. The locust turned it into a base. We manage to survive because we stay off the radar, we've had a few skirmishes but nothing substantial yet! It's getting dark Dean so you and your squad can stay the night. There's a shack at the far end of the settlement, I'll get a few guys to show you to it".

Dean and the others entered their shack. It was bigger than they thought, easily holding about six or seven people. Biggs was far from happy, he hated the stranded because they refused to join the COG and fight for mankind. He turned his attention to Dean and spoke with venom in his words "The COG try to prevent giving the stranded supplies and then you smuggle it out for them. I'll be filing a report soldier, you'll be lucky if you don't get a court marshal!" Max shook his head "Serge do you even know why he's doing it?" Biggs cast him a vicious glare, piercing him with his gaze "No reason is good enough to break the rules! None!" Max grunted "Shut up before you give me a headache!" Max knew what he was saying and knew he would be punished for it later, but when it came to protecting his friends he didn't care. Biggs was practically fuming, he had his I'm-pissed-don't-talk-to-me-face-on and the others opted to leave him alone.

Josh was at home with the stranded. He'd spent almost all his life in Franklin's Outpost in Ephyra City, either helping his mother grill dead Kryll or rats. He was often recruited by the propane salesmen to help with his deliveries around the outpost. Dean noticed he was at peace inside their walls. Dean walked past Biggs and received a disapproving grunt before walking outside to talk to Gary. Gary was eyeing the stars strangely, he had removed the COG armguards revealing a series of tribal tattoos covering almost all of his arm, including his shoulders. The tattoos had a black flame-like appearance and Dean was captivated by the work that was obviously done by a master tattooist. Gary noticed his presence "Hey Dean, what's up?" Dean leaned against the wall that was faintly lit by a fire fuelled lamp, but still well enough lit to keep the Kryll at bay. "Sergeant Biggs is starting to annoy me. Come on, Dom's more respected than he is and he even turned a blind eye!" Gary nodded his head, almost amused by his predicament "That's sergeant Biggs for ya. The only one that follows the rules as closely as he does would be Lieutenant Minh Young Kim, only he's not as bad as you-know-who". Dean didn't take much comfort from those words, if anything it made him more fearful. Biggs now knew his secret and the sergeant would have him in for it now. Gary yawned "Ah well I'm hittin the sack, see ye bright an early!" The door opened and Max approached his team-mate "Don't worry about that bag of hot air. He'll cool in the skin he heated in. Don't worry he won't be bringing you down without me!" Dean smiled at the comment, he knew Max meant every word and that he would have his back in any situation. The two clasped their hands together, symbolising their friendship and respect for one another.

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The first rays of sunshine were beginning to hit the settlement. Dawn Squad were up for the last hour and a half, preparing their equipment for the road. They had no vehicle so they'd have to hump it to the facility. Biggs looked at his squad, but not at Dean or Max "Were going through the woods to get to the facility. We'd cut our time down if we went on the road but the locust have it shut down, so were taking the woods, let's move!" Andy grabbed Dean one last time "Take this kiddo". Dean was handed a box that held two cigars. Dean was greatly moved by the gift. Cigars were a rare commodity for any stranded to possess. He tucked them into his pocket and set out with the rest of his squad. The trees didn't look to inviting, however Dawn Squad pressed on, every step taking them closer to their objective…

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon so please read more. Leave a review if you'd like, any help is appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	4. Forest Skirmish

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 4

Dawn Squad marched through the woods with caution governing their every move. There footsteps made a steady beat as they walked across the brown leaf covered ground. They were being extra vigilant. The locust had a habit of just popping up when they weren't wanted, not that gears ever wanted them to come up. Dean glanced around the area, unlike previous battles it wasn't fear that drove him, it was something else he couldn't put his finger on. He and Max were told to be 'point man', the two knew this was because of their conversation with Biggs the day before. He had it in for both of them, but the two friends weren't gonna give him the satisfaction. Max looked continually through his Longshot scope, as if he was mentally shooting locust, but Dean knew that Max was a careful soldier.

Dean gripped his Hammerburst tightly, another thing Biggs didn't like. Biggs scolded him earlier because he wasn't using 'COG weaponry' but Dean retorted saying "If it kills the locust I wouldn't give a damn if it was my grandmothers sandal!" That earned a small laugh from his squad mates but an aggressive, almost hostile glare from Biggs. Dean walked towards Max and rolled his eyes. Josh wasn't at ease anymore, he was forced to be rear guard and he relished the thought of a boomer coming up behind him and blowing him to bits! Gray stood in the centre with Biggs, eyeing the trees strangely. Dean and Max were the only ones that moved forward with no hesitation in there steps. They were told by the stranded that a town lay between the settlement and the weapon facility. Dawn set forth for the town, knowing they'd need to stop in an area with some light to avoid the fangs of the Kryll. Dean longed for a scorcher flamethrower, it was a proven method to keep Kryll at bay for at least a while. He had heard a story of four gears who stayed alive in the wild with only scorcher flamethrowers and Boltok pistols. He tried his best not to listen to stories, but some still managed to catch his attention.

Dean and Max halted and raised their fists into the air, before slowly and quietly moving into the closest cover. Dean knelt next to a downed log, while Max backed up against a tree. Biggs, Gary and Josh followed and knelt beside Dean. Dean pointed at his eyes and then showed three fingers, before pointing straight ahead. Max nodded and pointed to their right flank and raised four fingers. Dean shook his head and pointed to the mag in his Hammerburst and raised four fingers. Max replied by pointing to his Longshot and flashed five fingers four times. Dean now knew that Max had 20 bullets and that there were four locust on their right flank. Gary looked at the two strangely "Mind telling me what the hell your doing? What's with all this hand sign shit?" Dean ignored him for a moment and pointed to his left flank and raised three fingers. In total the locust had three up ahead with four on their right flank and three on their left flank. Dean nodded his head at Max and tapped Josh on the shoulder "Take position at the stone ledge near Max. Go!" Josh clutched his lancer tightly, until he arrived at Embry Square he had never shot a locust, but Dean knew that would need to change if they were to survive. Dean strafed to the left-hand side of the log and kept his head low. He could see the locust speaking to each other. They hadn't noticed them yet, but that was only a matter of time.

Dean gave Max a final nod and the two jumped up with their weapons primed! The bullet from the Longshot flew from the chamber with a ping as one of the four locust on the right was downed, shot in the heart. The bullet had lodged in his body and the locust coughed frothy blood before finally dying. Dean released a six shot burst from his Hammerburst, penetrating the locust skin and caving it's chest in! The remaining locust turned in surprise and began to fire. They only carried one weapon each, the old Hammerburst model that Dean carried. Dean was both thankful and fearful of that fact. He'd have plenty of ammo but the Hammerburst was favoured by the locust for two reasons: it's amazing accuracy and it's brutal fire power! Gary rolled to the side and lobbed a frag, which landed at the feet of a drone, propelling him into the sky! The locust landed with a thud near the logs Dawn Squad were using as cover, it's body shredded! Biggs blind fired and removed the left arm of the second drone with his gnasher. Gary switched to his Boltok and with a jump-out shot removed it's head in a fantastic display of blood. Dean delivered another six shot burst and removed the left leg of the third drone on the left flank. He switched to his snub pistol and removed the crawling locust's head. He fell to his knees as a single bullet from the six shot burst grazed his shoulder! Dean didn't scream or yell, he simply reloaded his snub and fired, fired until the drone that brought him pain was dead! Max released another bullet from his Longshot, removing yet another head. He turned suddenly and grappled with a locust drone! He was being overpowered but suddenly a chainsaw tore through the drones body! Blood covered Max's eyes and he blinked it clear. Josh stood panting heavily on the opposite side of the drone. Max laughed loudly and tapped Josh on the shoulder. He primed another bullet and released it into the chest of the drone, stunning him. Dean capitalized on the situation by mantling over the log and sprinting towards the drone! He smacked it across the face with enough force to snap it's neck and break it's jaw. He turned and saw Biggs blast the second last locust with his gnasher. Dean however noticed that the final locust converged upon his sergeant. Although Biggs put him through some shit Dean selflessly charged towards the drone and tackled it to the ground! Biggs turned in surprise as Dean punched it in the mouth and then slamming his elbow into it's face! If there was one thing Dean was good at doing it was hand-to-hand fighting. He rose and drew his snub pistol and with one well aimed bullet, penetrated it's skull! Biggs nodded his head and patted him on the back before telling his squad to "Fall in!"

Dawn obliged and looked around the area "That town can't be far ahead. The stranded said it was no more than twelve miles from the settlement. We need to make it there before more locust show up, or worse, the Kryll. Let's move out!" The trees provided less and less cover as they approached the town. The hammer of dawn offensive had hit the area hard, reducing the town to a pile of rubble.

Dawn approached the entrance to the town The gate was a shredded piece of tin with several large holes and dents covering it. Dean manoeuvred himself through one of the holes and looked around the town. The area was dusty and desolate. Rags covered the ground. A gust of wind blew through the street, lifting and carrying the rags through the air. Small tin shacks dotted the sides of the streets. Dean guessed they were remnants of the stranded, stranded ho were either killed by the locust or the Kryll. Max walked beside his friend "Oh my God". Dean looked into the distance, reavers flew east across the sea. Dawn guessed that there were probably reaver pens around here somewhere. Each member felt a cold chill go up their spines and goose bumps appeared on their arms. Small, tattered dolls covered the street, once belonging to children, children who were now dead or dying.

Dean stood with a brave face, but inside he was mourning. Josh was the only member who showed his emotions, barely fighting back the tears. He was a soft soul who hated fighting or hurting anyone, he hated the war and often hoped for a peaceful solution, but Dean knew that would never happen. He knew humanity would fight for their survival, or until the locust broke them, whichever came first. Max looked down his scope, revealing more death, desolation and destruction. The area wasn't dark it was a ghost town in every sense of the word. Every corner and alleyway seen revealed more destruction. Dean clenched his fists tightly, he knew it wasn't the locust who inflicted so much death and destruction, it was his own people, the people he took orders from. Dean approached a frightened and scared Josh and placed his hand on his shaking shoulder "You okay?" Josh looked at him and wiped his tears "Y-Yeah, thanks". Although he didn't show it Dean had managed to cheer the young lad up, if only for a moment.

Biggs took his squad into the cover of a nearby building. The roof was still intact, which was nothing short of a miracle. "Okay, we'll stay here for the night. We'd be fools if we let such a well covered house pass us by. We'll close the door and cover the windows, keep the chatter quiet. Were in enemy territory so stay sharp!" The squad all went to their respective corners. Dean went to follow Max but felt a strong hand catch his arm "Dean". The voice belonged to Biggs "I may have been a bit hasty in my judgement. You showed me great character today. I busted you down and yet you still opted to save my life. You have my gratitude soldier. There's only one thing I need to know, why?" Dean sighed, the only ones he had ever told his complete story to where Max and Dom "I have three brothers, one of them is a gear serving in Alpha 7 with my cousin Jace, the other two are younger than me. They both lived in Jacinto, at least until that raid a year back. I lost my brothers and haven't been able to find them since. I smuggled propane for needy families for two reasons sir. The first was because it racked up favours and the other was to soothe my guilty conscience". Biggs sighed "That's a good enough reason soldier, I know how you feel, I lost family to. I'm sorry about before". The two men shook hands, putting their differences aside. Darkness fell upon the town and the shrill screech of Kryll could be heard all around. They were alerted by a joyous grunt from Gary who came across a bottle of brandy in one of the cupboards and eight cigars! He screwed the lid off and took a slug, before passing it to his fellow gears. It came to Dean and he knocked some back before handing it to Max. Gary tossed them each a cigar "Let's have ourselves a small party!" Biggs nodded "Go for it". Although Biggs was a 'by-the-book-guy' he couldn't turn down brandy and cigars. They drank and puffed into the early hours of the morning, trading old stories…

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I'll have the next chapter up soon. If you liked this then please leave a review. Thanks for reading!


	5. Locust Central

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 5

Dean awoke with a slight headache, caused by the brandy. He looked at the bottle and sighed, it was empty. He reached for his Hammerburst and primed it with a new mag. Max opened one eye "What the hell you up to?" Dean jumped before turning "Scare the shit outta me why don't ya! Nothing I'm reloading". The remainder of the squad awoke, some feeling better than others. Josh was the freshest, he hadn't even taken a slug of the brandy, but Gary was a different story. He was known among the gears for being unable to hold his drink. He staggered forward before holding his head "Ah! I feel like I was ran over by a train!"

Dawn Squad entered the street outside there overnight refuge. The area hadn't changed much, except that the dust had been replaced with water, water caused by the downpour that night. Dawn Squad walked down the street. The town wasn't large by any measure but it was open, and openness was a thing Dean didn't like, Max loved it, gave him more to shot at but Dean was different. He knew the locust had good snipers to and one mistake was all it took. He had known countless people who were killed by an enemy they couldn't see, the thought scared Dean half to death. If he was going to die he'd prefer to do it staring into the eyes of his killer where he could actually have a chance to change his fate. Gary eyed the buildings and told his mates to halt. Max handed him the pair of thermal goggles and he gladly took them "Damn it. Get to cover!" The squad dove behind walls, cars and large bins, whatever they could find. Dean cursed as a Theron Guard passed by a nearby window on the second floor, followed by two more drones. Biggs walked quickly but quietly towards Dean "I didn't see anything, what about you?" Dean looked further down the road and then across at the buildings "I saw one theron guard and two drones, but there are more, I'm sure of it". "How can you be so sure?" came the scared reply from Josh. Biggs shrugged his shoulders "We gears call it gut instinct". Biggs turned to Dean "We'll go through the buildings, you take the left side with Max, me and the others will take the right!"

Dean and Max walked slowly towards the buildings. They provided cover, but not a big lot to jump up and scream about. The majority of the buildings were either two story or more, the largest being four, each one would be ideal for sniping! Max was the first to note that one building muttering "Get some headshots from there". Dean was glad he was paired with Max but he was also happy that they didn't need to go through the streets, more chance of getting shot. They entered a house, they were easily accessible from another because the walls were mostly blown apart. Dean placed his back to a wall overlooking a corner. He waved Max forward and he stopped inside a room. The two continued to move cautiously, they knew the locust wouldn't overlook a town, especially one where they could fit a lot of soldiers in, and unfortunately this town fitted the bill. They stopped at a nearby window and crouched down. Max used it as an excuse to look through his scope. He monitored the progress of Dawn 1 and even the position of enemy locust. Dean placed his finger on the tac/com "Hey serge you got locust three buildings ahead, I count four, but there may be more". The reply came quickly and quietly from Gary "Cheers Dean, hold on a sec". Gary peered through a small hole in the wall "Dean, you've got locust entering the house behind you, they have a grinder with them so watch your ass" Dean thanked him for the heads up and turned to Max "Hear that?" GRIND echoed throughout the house as the two looked around their surroundings. Dean was alerted to Gary's voice, filled with worry "Guys you got six locust who just entered the house in front of you! There gonna catch you in a pincer!" Max however was looking at his surroundings carefully "Hey Dean, how many explosives you got?" Dean checked his belt "I've got two frag and one inker, got a plan?" "Yeah give me them, get in that room and prime your Hammerburst, were gonna need it!" Dean jumped into the room and primed each weapon he had. He slid an arrow into the chamber of his torque bow and readied a new mag for his snub and Hammerburst. The corridor of the house was thin and narrow, perfect for grenades. The corridor had a small bedside table to the side. Max placed one to the side of the table, impossible to see by even the most keen eye and then the other down the corridor slightly. He then ran towards the door leading to the other house, he barely dodged a bullet as they began to fly past his head. He lobbed the ink grenade and ran back to the room, bullets barely skimming him! Max opened the door quickly and jumped beside his friend and reloaded his Longshot. He set it to the side and loaded both his revolvers "Get ready!" The locust stumbled from the toxic smoke and ran straight into the grenades! The explosion echoed through the town, alerting the locust and worse, the reavers! Dawn 1 looked across the street as a hole was blown in the house! Biggs gave the signal and they opened fire on the locust fortunate enough to survive the trap.

Gary and Biggs dropped their heads but Josh continued shooting, he hadn't seen the grinder walk around the corridor. Biggs and Gary reached for him and dragged him to the floor just as the grinder opened up fire! Biggs got on the radio, the despair in his voice was apparent, and noted by Dean and Max "Dean, Max that grinder's got us pinned! Take him out! He's directly in front of that room you guys are in in" Dean reached for his torque bow and pointed at the door. Max knew instantly and approached the door quietly. Using his fingers he counted to three. He opened the door and Dean charged the arrow! The grinder turned slowly. Dean smiled "See ya!" The arrow sprang from the chamber and penetrated the grinders torso. Max closed the door and jumped behind the table they were using as cover! They covered their ears as the grinder exploded, scattering body parts into the street and what was left of the door around Dean and Max. The two laughed at their triumph but soon returned their attention to the battle. The remaining locust began shooting through the door! Dean hit the floor and reached for his Hammerburst. Max threw something into the crowd of locust standing outside. It exploded, creating a small bang and a cloud of smoke! Dean handed Max his Hammerburst and threw himself into the crowd of locust! He smashed one across the jaw and then kicked another in the ribs. He ducked beneath it's mighty swing and delivered a powerful upper cut, knocking the locust on it's back. Max shrugged his shoulders "What the hell!" He equipped both revolvers and went in all guns blazing, literally! He threw one to Dean and he smashed a drone across the jaw. Max kicked one between the legs before splitting it's skull with a bullet, blood splattered the drones, blinding them. Dean backed up and reached for his torque bow. He swung the sickle edge, slicing a drones throat, splashing the wall with blood! There was now only two conscious drones. Max caved the first's chest in with two revolver rounds before tackling the other! Max held it down as Dean took his torque bow and severed it's head! Locust blood dripped from the sickle blade as they flashed each other a thumbs up. The two gears looked at their awestruck comrades, their mouths were practically dangling by their feet.

Biggs rallied his men "Let's go get these locust!" They walked through the buildings. The floors were creaking loudly, which was a bad thing in Gary's eyes. He knew the locust may hear and heck with this heavy armour he wouldn't be surprised if one of them fell through the damn floor. The room was larger than the corridor leading to it, Gary guessed it was probably a dining room for a rather wealthy family. The wall was still adorned with expensive looking pictures and the occasional intact vase sat on the floor or window sill. He peered around the corner and saw two un-primed grenades. He quickly picked them up and attached them to his belt. He gripped his lancer, almost hoping for a locust to run round the corner. Josh however wasn't hoping for that. He wasn't as jumpy as he had been, but it could still do with improvement. His hands shook and he struggled to reload effectively. He continually looked around encase a locust attacked him, (even though they knew there were none behind and Gary was the point man). Gary halted and pointed ahead raising four fingers, he'd decided to adopt Dean and Max's signals because it sure as hell beat talking in hostile territory. He placed his back against a small table, barely providing adequate cover. Biggs strafed across the room quickly, avoiding detection. He took up position in a bedroom and peered out the door carefully. Gary moved forward slightly, taking cover behind a couch. Josh moved quickly to the table Gary just moved from. Josh was a small guy so it gave him good cover. Biggs nodded his head. The gears raised their heads and opened fire! The lead locust was shredded by Biggs' shotgun and Gary mowed down another with his lancer. Josh managed to stop shaking for a moment and removed the right arm of the farthest locust with his lancer! Biggs shredded the locust moving behind Gary quickly, blowing the locust out the window in the process! Gary moved toward the armless locust and revved his chainsaw bayonet, cutting through the locust as though he wasn't even there. Blood splattered the walls, floor, but mostly Gary "Blood…guts, just another day on the job!" Biggs breathed out and readjusted his glasses. He patted Gary on the back "Let's press on". Gary took centre position as Biggs switched to point-man, Gary was still removing blood from his face.

Dean and Max hadn't ran into any other locust since there last skirmish, but they were tired. Maybe it was them fighting hand-to-hand with the locust or the fact they hadn't slept much the night before, but it was defiantly beginning to take it's toll. They were forced to march through enemy territory with no contact with control, Dean began to wonder how Rose would be feeling, she'd probably be doing fine but he knew she would worry about them. Max knew something was on his mind, but they were deep in enemy territory so he avoided words, they never knew when a locust would become known to their presence. Dean pulled him to the ground as a reaver flew past the window. Biggs stopped his group and did the same, he hadn't seen it but the noise they made was well known. Several reavers landed in the street. Dean was beginning to wonder why so many were here, surely it couldn't be for them, or could it. As far as they knew they were the only humans on the island, with the exception of the stranded. They moved closer to the windows to get a better look. The ground began to shake, and it soon became known why. An army of locust, counting easily in the hundreds marched up the street, with what appeared to be prisoners, human prisoners. Dean thought for a moment. The locust take prisoners? He thought there was a greater chance of pigs flying but yet it was in front of his very eyes. Dean and Gary's gaze met and they each pointed to their tac/com, before zipping their mouths.

Josh wasn't the only one that was shaking. Biggs being the distinguished veteran he was, hadn't seen so many locust in one area. The locust didn't march in any particular formation, but they were step with each other, this resulted in a steady rhythm, a rhythm that struck fear into the hearts of Dawn. Dean rubbed his eyes and then looked again, he could have sworn he saw a locust with dreadlocks. He laughed at the thought, but then he saw more, much more. Josh was practically having a panic attack. Gary stared at the army, trying his best to keep his cool. A scream erupted through Dawns ears as one of the prisoners fell to the ground! The locust was whipping him, again and again. Max clenched his fists, prompting a worried expression from Dean. Dean knew Max never showed his emotions and yet even he was in pain watching the display, but Dean knew why.

Every person who heard Max's story responded in a different manner, some thought he was lucky, some not so. Max was two years older than Dean was and the two grew up in the same area of Ephyra, the same area when the locust first reared their ugly head. A five year old Max was chatting to his father, a distinguished veteran gear who had fought in the pendulum wars. The door was suddenly kicked in by what looked like something straight out of a horror film. His mother was killed instantly but his father snapped the creatures neck and ordered his son to hide himself in the basement. His father stood in the doorway, his large frame blocking anything that dared to come close! Max opened the small trapdoor and sat inside. Before he could close it his father kicked it close with three words leaving his mouth before the locust grabbed him "I love you". There was a small hole in the ground and Max could see it all. The locust mercilessly beat his father, and even though his mother was dead they beat her to. Tears ran down his face, but he stopped when he saw one thing that gave him strength, although his father was being tortured a large grin covered his face as he stared into the eye of his son one last time.

Dean knew the real events better than anyone. Dean was the only person who heard the full story, knowing that Max relived that moment countless times in his dreams, always with the same outcome. Max moved away from the window and leaned against the wall. Dean knew the pain his friend was going through all to well, although Max's father wasn't Dean's father the man treated him as though he was a son. Dean placed a comforting hand on his friends shoulder. The steady beat upon the ground shook the house, but worst of all, it had shaken the gears, more than they knew…

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. If you liked this chapter or just want to give me advice then please comment, all help is appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	6. Survival Ain't Easy

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 6

Dawn Squad were staring at the locust army beneath them. They had spent the last five minutes staring at the locust and the unfortunate prisoners. Max was still leaning against the nearby wall. He couldn't shake the memories of his childhood, they haunted him every night of his life, he'd appear tired and often hated going to sleep. For Max, sleep was just another painful memory, one he couldn't avoid. Dean cast his friend a worried expression, he could find no words to comfort his friend and it was beginning to annoy him. Dean hated being helpless, that's the reason he joined the COG, to make a difference, but seeing his friend brought back his own bad memories.

Dean continued looking at the locust horde marching up the street. Ripples formed on the puddles, almost as though they were in fear. The town couldn't be called a ghost town anymore, the only word Dean could find to describe it now was madness, complete untamed madness. The locust mercilessly whipped their prisoners if they began to slow. The whip cracking against their flesh was a constant rhythm that was like a demon in Dean's head. For the majority of his life he was powerless, but for the last year he'd felt he had some control but the things he saw that day forever removed that thought. He was powerless, and it was beginning to show upon his face.

Max finally rose and primed his Longshot. Every fibre of his being ordered him to shot, but he knew that would be it. If he fired he'd be sentencing Dean and himself to death, or worse, the fate those prisoners would suffer. Max looked at Dean, his face was filled with strength again and Dean couldn't help but smile at his friend. They stopped looking and continued walking through the buildings. They were like shadows, shadows that wouldn't be seen. Dean dropped to one knee slowly and lifted a ragged shirt lying in front of him, he guessed it belonged to a stranded. He carefully tied the rag around his feet so his footsteps would be muffled, he handed the rest of it to Max and he did the same. They walked ahead, making no noise from their footsteps. Dean began to see hope, hope for their escape, but he also knew that that hope could be torn from someone very quickly. They stalked forward with the growl of locust and reavers fading behind them.

Biggs elected to remain where he was at. Gary had taken up defensive position at the top of the stairs and Josh was watching the window. Gary and Biggs had carefully moved a chest of drawers towards the stairs, the drawers themselves were packed full of wood. Gary guessed it was an attempted defensive measure used by the stranded and he thanked them for it. He placed it near the stairs and hid behind it. He could easily see the stairway and he quietly primed his lancer and Boltok. Biggs decided he'd cover the entrance to the next building. He and Josh had moved whatever they could towards the entrance, cupboards, drawers even bed frames. There was one good thing about the locust walking and that was the noise they made. The locust themselves drowned out any quiet noise the gears made and Gary and Biggs were thankful for it. Biggs checked the drawers, piling in old rags and whatever pieces of wood he could find. He knew if the locust found them the defences would need to hold out a while and he reinforced them to the best of his ability. Josh was sitting at the window. For the first time in his life he wasn't shaking when locust were near. He could see the prisoners clearly, every face was worn with stress, worry and fear. Josh knew the look all too well, he'd seen it upon the faces of countless stranded before he joined the COG. Josh was a keen mechanic, he knew COG machinery better than he knew his own hand. He helped Damon Baird repair a JACK bot at the age of fifteen, much to the surprise of Baird and most of the other gears. Josh eyed the horde with a mixture of awe, fear and despair. He hated the locust, heck every living person on Sera hated the locust. Josh looked at them strangely. He recognized a few of the prisoners. One of them was a customer who Josh once delivered propane to and another was privileged enough to own an APC, a thing the COG found low in their own garages. However all that was now worthless because once the locust caught you all those possessions became trivial and pointless.

Dean and Max moved quickly avoiding words and each others glances. They only stopped to make sure the locust hadn't detected them. Dean gripped his Hammerburst tightly, ready to fire and even die if need be. Max carried his Boltok instead, finding the long barrel of the Longshot difficult to wield in such small areas. Dean gave him his snub for extra firepower, although the weapon wasn't the strongest sidearm in the world Max happily accepted it knowing he'd need it. They stalked the halls like wraiths, they eyed the areas carefully before moving on to scan another. There rag covered shoes made no sound, even though they moved quickly. For the first time in about ten minutes the gears made eye contact. Dean placed his back against a wall and peered around the corner. His worst fears were realized as two locust stood with their backs towards them. One was a theron guard and the other was a drone. The drone carried the locust trademark Hammerburst while the theron guard carried a lancer and a torque bow. Max eyed the lancer as though he was an animal eyeing a piece of meat, he wanted it. The two gears silently drew their combat knives and stalked silently towards their prey. The gears held their breathe as they approached. They signalled each other with a nod and the two reached for their mouths before plunging their knives into their ribs! The locust struggled for a moment but soon fell silent. Dean and Max looked at a closet leaning against wall. They opened it, relieved when nothing was present. They dragged the locust towards the closet and set them inside before closing the door slowly. They flashed each other a thumbs up before continuing through the buildings. Max walked towards the ground and smiled. He picked up the lancer and returned his Boltok to it's holster and the snub to Dean. He held the lancer in both hands, he didn't like it but he knew he'd need it for the battles ahead. He didn't like the weapon because it conflicted with his tastes. He preferred a weapon that could kill an enemy at a distance and the Longshot provided that. The lancer was loud and the chainsaw bayonet meant getting to close, something he didn't like doing.

Biggs, Gary and Josh were still in the same room, they were prepared to wait all night. They were lucky. There were two lamps that were still lit and they provided all the light they needed to ward off the Kryll. Biggs had elected to stay because he knew the locust would need light as well because the Kryll ate everything, including locust and Biggs wanted to keep the skin on his bones, not in the stomach of countless Kryll. The sun began to descend. Biggs knew there was only two to three hours of natural light remaining, two to three hours of safe haven before the Kryll began their nightly rule. Josh moved from the window and moved quietly towards Gary. The two had formed a close friendship during their training. Gary smiled as he approached "What's up?" whispered Gary, careful not to alert the locust to their presence. Josh had stopped shaking completely, something Gary and Biggs were surprised at "The last of the locust are walking past now, the line of prisoners dried up a while back but". Gary's face turned grave, he knew what was going through the gears mind. Gary placed a comforting hand on his shoulder "You recognized a few of them, didn't you?" Josh sighed and silently nodded his head. Gary joined in his sadness "There's nothing we could've done Josh, if we had tried to help we would've been killed too. If we life those people still have a chance". Gary knew the words were nothing more that an attempt to cheer his friend up. Gary knew that the COG wouldn't attempt a rescue, too risky. Most of the people in command saw the stranded as fools because they didn't fight for mankind, but Gary didn't share that believe. He believed those souls weren't stranded, they were abandoned, abandoned by the their own race to fight inhuman, genocidal monsters! The words however worked and Josh was visibly cheered up. He returned to his position at the window a little calmer than he was a minute ago.

Dean and Max had lost pace with the locust horde, their tiredness was beginning to show. They stopped and looked around. There was only about an hour of natural light left and the gears needed to find safe refuge. Each room they checked had holes in the roofs and no lights, a death trap when the Kryll were around. The gears moved on praying to every deity they could think of, at this point they didn't care if they believed in it or not, the pair needed refuge and they were beginning to run out of time. Every step they took moved them farther from safe haven. A cold sweat broke on Dean's forehead and neck. He checked the light in the sky and begged it to stay up a minute or two longer. Dean was alerted by a tap on his shoulder. Max pointed to a room with an intact door and one window, there was no glass, but there was a table. They moved quickly, breaking the legs from the table and positioning it against the window, covering it. Dean looked around for something to hold it there. He stopped scanning when his eyes fell upon a beautiful grandfather clock. It was in pretty good condition and with help from Max the two managed to back it against the table, stopping it from falling. They closed the door to the room and sighed with relieve. They raised their heads to the heavens. They weren't religious men by any means but they began to think that someone up there must have liked them because at the moment they had survived by the skin of their teeth. The shrill screech of the Kryll replaced the steady beat of the locust's feet upon the floor. Dean and Max had very little room in the small area that acted as their safe haven. Once they included the grandfather clock they only had a few feet of free space remaining. The gears sat beside each other with, the only light they had was from Dean's torch, something he had accidentally took with him. The gears allowed themselves to fall into their own personal dream world. Max wasn't to happy about that, when he closed his eyes a vision of his father appeared. Max sighed "Here I go again…".

Biggs had ordered his men to sleep but Gary retorted saying "Try you sleeping when there's Kryll ready to fly up your ass at any moment! I want to be awake to jump for light!" Josh shook his head. He eyed the dark skies cautiously. He wondered if it was actually the sky or just the black wings of the Kryll. Josh hated the Kryll, they had the potential to kill an amount that would take the locust about a week! Gary quickly forgot hid words and allowed darkness to take him, before sleeping he muttered something that Biggs and Josh couldn't understand. The two shrugged it off and put their own heads down. The day had been long and the men were tired. They both had one wish on their lips before sleeping and that was "Let us wake up tomorrow".

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I'll have the next chapter up soon. If you enjoyed this chapter then please leave a review, all help is appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	7. Weapons New and Old

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 7

Biggs awoke feeling refreshed. Light shone through the holes in the wall in narrow beams and the area instantly felt more friendly. He moved slowly and quietly towards the window. Josh was stretched out in front of the window, his head resting on a pillow he stole from Gary in the middle of the night. Biggs sighed with relieve as his eyes fell upon an empty street, not a locust or reaver in sight. He tapped Josh on the shoulder who rolled over "Mornin serge". The small gear rose to his feet and yawned, stretching his still sleeping muscles. He looked into the street. The light hurt his eyes, the ground was dry. It would've been hard to believe that an army of locust just passed through a few hours before. The town was once again a ghost town. Signs of previous life could be seen everywhere, the houses were a mess but the stranded had left their mark, something that had saved the gears life. He said a short prayer for the stranded and the prisoners as he turned to face Biggs.

Biggs moved towards Gary "Gary wake up!" His voice was full of life. Gary raised his arm in the air and dismissed him "Five more minutes. I promise I'll get up in five minutes". Gary rolled over with his face towards the small dead body of a Kryll. He opened one eye and then closed it. He thought a moment and then opened both eyes. He jumped to his feet and kicked the bat-like creature into the streets, panting heavily "You ain't eating me you damn bloodsucker!" His neck and back were in agony. He looked at the window and noticed his pillow "Josh I'm gonna kill you!" 

Josh ducked behind Biggs as Gary revved his chainsaw "Outta the way serge! I'm gonna kill him! We can make it look like suicide!" Gary smiled "Ah I'm only kidding, kinda". 

Biggs and Josh shook their heads. Josh reached for his lancer and strapped it to his back. They shook off the remnants of their sleep and readied their equipment. Gary cracked his neck muscles and touched his tac/com "Dean, Max respond". The group got nothing but static and they cast each other worried expressions. Gary cleared the makeshift defences out of the way and moved quickly from one building to another. Josh and Biggs followed him, they were relieved the locust were gone because right now Gary had thrown caution out the window.

Biggs, Gary and Josh walked for the better part of an hour and still got no response from Dean and Max. Gary was obviously worried. The only family he had was an older sister and a young nephew aged two. Although almost every gear in the COG had a dark and sad history Gary considered himself lucky to be blessed with squad mates like Dawn. He considered Dean, Max, Josh and Biggs his family and he would happily die for any one of them. He moved forward, propelled by his will to find his friends. Thoughts of his sister and his little nephew entered his mind. His nephew was named after him and he was more like a son to Gary. His father was dead, killed in the same raid Dean lost his brothers in a year ago. Gary smiled and thought _"I ain't losing them too, Dean, Max you guys better be alive"_.

Dean and Max had the same luck as Biggs and the others. They couldn't reach anyone on the radio either and they were beginning to worry. They had followed the long road the locust had and soon found something that struck them speechless! There was a massive emergence hole that spanned the whole width of the street. Dean and Max gazed into it's dark depths with a mixture of fear and awe. The buildings stopped just before the e-hole. Unknowingly they had discovered one of the roads that could probably lead to the heart of the hollow. An expression of excitement crossed Max's face "Where do you reckon it goes?"

Dean kept silent a moment and surveyed his surroundings. The locust had obviously built this area as a defensive base. There were troika turrets in the streets near the mouth of the e-hole and a series of sandbags forming a wall around that. There was even a makeshift flight of stairs that lead to a wooden tower. Dean and Max descended from the building and walked towards the structure. Dean's eyes fell upon a weapon he'd only seen in pictures, it was the hammer of dawn. Dean picked it up and grunted. The weapon was damaged, but not beyond repair "Have we got any mechanics?"

Max thought for a minute before giving an answer "Give it to Josh". The two looked into the large e-hole, it was as deep as it was dark and the gears were struck speechless as they gazed into it's depths. They thought it would swallow them at any second and they backed away. The locust had been careless. They left unused ammo and barely damaged weaponry lying on the surface. The weapons included gorgon pistols, the newest model of Hammerburst and even a mulcher turret! Dean glanced at the small goldmine and smirked. He never knew the locust to be careless, but then he remembered that they were in their own territory and probably thought the weapons would never be used again. He removed the though from his head and began to study each individual weapon for any damage. 

Max looked at the weapons, he couldn't understand it but some of them looked different than the ones he was used to. He put it down to lack of sleep and continued looking at the weaponry, a rectangular box caught his attention and he moved to retrieve it.

Gary stopped in his tracks and picked up an old dust covered weapon. He couldn't believe his eyes! It was an old lancer from the pendulum wars. It lacked the chainsaw bayonet and the targeting scope, sporting an average holding below the barrel that could hold a combat knife with a conventional set of scope-mounting brackets on the receiver. It was still operational, much to the gears surprise. He decided he'd take it with him and slotted his combat knife into the holder below the barrel to give the weapon it's bayonet. He decided to keep it, thinking the chainsaw bayonet was too loud for their current predicament. 

Biggs eyed the weapon "Is that a pendulum era lancer? I haven't seen one of these babies since the locust first reared their ugly heads! Your using a piece of history Gary, look after it!" Gary kept his eyes fixed on the weapon, he'd seen the weapon specs and the differences between it and the newer lancer were like night and day.

Firstly the barrel was slightly longer to accommodate different sizes of bayonets. The old era lancer was thicker, heavier and less attractive than it's newer model. The newer lancer was also more linear. Unlike the newer lancer the old era lancer wasn't symmetrical. It was designed for right hand shooters, which suited Gary just fine. Originally the old lancer had no scope, which meant it took a skilled shooter to land a shot at long range. This model had the scope-mounting brackets which meant a scope could be attached. There was also more grip on the older model because the newer model had the chainsaw bayonet, which took up more grip space than an ordinary bayonet ever could.

The group tried the radio again with no response. Biggs looked into the distance and saw the entrance to the large e-hole. He adjusted his glasses, swearing he saw two figures searching near it's mouth. Dean turned, feeling as though someone was watching him. His face brightened as he saw Biggs waving his large hands in the air. Gary climbed out the window and lowered himself into the street below. He easily dropped a few feet, but he was un-phased, he was just pleased to see his friends alive "Learn to answer a radio will ya?"

Dean smiled and walked towards his comrade. They clasped their hands together and stood with a smile on their faces. Dean sighed "We couldn't contact you either, hey did you see that e-hole? We found a bunch of ammo and weapons that are only slightly busted". Biggs ran down a flight of stairs and rejoined his comrades.

"Dean! Good to see you and Max made it. We couldn't reach you on the radio, thought Gary was gonna have a heart attack!" 

Gary cast him a goofy expression and put his arm around Dean and walked towards Max "Of course I was worried, can't let my brothers get killed without me can I?" Dean flashed him a thumbs up. He was happy the crew was back together again.

"Guys I found something your really gonna like!" The squad approached Max who revealed a small box of explosives. They weren't frag but something else entirely. There were six of them in total.

Gary took one of them and sat down. He eyed every piece of the circular sphere with a face full of awe. He whistled as he looked at it "Serge. Baird once showed me the specs for the blast charges the COG use. This thing fit's the bill but something a little off. It's more compact but by the look of it, it's powerful. This is a weapon the COG don't have in their stores". Gary carefully took it apart and laughed below his breathe.

Gary got to his feet and showed the inside of the charge to Biggs. Biggs studied it, adjusting his glasses beforehand "Is that…Imulsion?" Gary nodded quickly and pieced it back together, making sure the device wasn't primed. The imulsion was encased in a phial-like container and Gary couldn't help but be impressed by the idea.

Biggs looked at the sphere carefully before turning his attention to Gary "You think this is the weapon we were sent to find?" 

Gary shrugged his shoulders and looked around. He looked at the old lancer he held in his hands "Why else would this thing be around here? The locust must be punching out new weapons, and I bet they're using our older models as a base. Take this charge for example. It uses imulsion, something Sera has no shortage of. From where I'm sitting this thing looks like a mini lightmass bomb".

Max was listening intently and he sighed "Look at this". Max handed him the lancer he received from the dead theron. Gary inspected the lancer carefully. It was different from the current lancer type, but still similar. The weapon was heavier and the frame had a long range scope much like the Longshot. It also had rounds the same size as the Hammerburst. It resembled a lancer but the differences were still noticeable. Gary actually thought it looked more like the old era lancer, supporting his previous hypothesis. Dawn Squad took a moment to scratch their heads and think. They knew the locust were capable of making some good weaponry but this was starting to get beyond the joke.

Dean walked towards the group and began to speak "I'll bet they've got the plans for these weapons back at the research facility. I recommend we break in and take a look around. If the locust are really using our own facility to punch out weapons we'll have no choice but to destroy the facility, weapons included. Command might not like the plan, but I don't see much other choice".

Biggs knew these weapons would only cost more lives so he quickly made up his mind "Gary you said that blast charge was powerful? Gather up all the weapons here we can't take with us and destroy them, we aren't leaving them to the locust. Let's pray these are prototypes and they haven't got those weapons off the assembly line". Dawn spent the next few minutes piling the weapons on top of each other. Each one thought it was a serious waste, but they also knew it needed to be done. They needed to destroy that facility and bring the plans back to command.

Gary placed two of the blast charges and pressed a small button on the right-hand side of the first one. They had decided to take to birds with one stone and planted the weapons and blast charges at the mouth of the large e-hole. Gary primed the second charge and threw it deep into the e-hole. They ran for cover, leaving the weapons behind. A large explosion echoed through their ears as the e-hole caved in! A large blanket of smoke passed through the buildings. Gary looked back at the explosion. The blast charges did the job. They pressed on with the revelation still hanging heavy upon them… They knew what there mission was and they were the only gears on Sera who were in the position to do it. 

Max sighed "I've only got on question. How the hell we gonna level a research facility with no heavy weaponry? We'd need at least twenty of those imulsion charges to get the job done".

Dean looked at the weapon he held in his hands, he had forgot that he carried the hammer of dawn "Hey Josh I found this near the e-hole, think you can fix it?"

Josh strapped his lancer to his back and inspected the hammer of dawn "Let's see here. Thankfully there's nothing wrong with the targeting laser, but there's defiantly something up. Is that shrapnel?" Josh inspected the weapon. He was oblivious to the world outside, right now it was only him and the hammer of dawn. He removed a small box of tools from his pocket and began inspecting the weapon.

Biggs smiled and cast Dean a proud expression "Good job Dean, I think the hammer of dawn will be able to level it nicely. Let's pick up the pace lads, we lost some time hiding in the town so let's go!" Dawn Squad acknowledged their sergeant and increased their walking speed.

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. If you liked this chapter then please leave a review. Thanks for reading! If you want to see a picture of the old style lancer then check out the Gears Of War wiki. You find it in the same section as the ordinary lancer.


	8. Unexpected Find

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 8

The gears had spent the majority of the day walking quickly towards the facility. They knew there would be little or no light between the town and the weapon facility, so the squad moved with a quick pace in their strides. Dean and Gary were point-men. The two stopped as the facility began to come into view. The facility wasn't as large as they thought it would be. It was tall and thin, resembling a tower more than a weapons research facility. Dean couldn't help but eye the broken windows, it would only take one bullet, one fine moment in time to end it for any one of them. He gripped his Hammerburst tighter and tighter until his knuckles turned white. He released his grip and breathed out slowly, he didn't know why he was so nervous, he put it down to the building and reluctantly moved towards it… But it wasn't just nervousness, he had a bad feeling in his gut and nine times out of ten his feelings were right.

The facility was impressive. By the look of it, it had four floors and a helipad on the roof. The gears smiled as they saw a King Raven helicopter stationed on the roof. Max ran towards Dean and Gary and looked through the scoop of his Longshot. The rooters were intact but the cockpit was damaged on the inside, but it looked repairable.

Josh looked through the scoop "There's some circuit damage but I won't know the extent until I get a closer look". The gears approached the large structure with caution, but also excitement in their footsteps. Gary was the most excited. He knew a lot about weaponry and was the closest thing Dawn Squad had to an 'expert'. Gary had an exceptional 'mind's eye'. He was capable of forming an image in his mind and holding onto it for some time. This was the reason he could recall so many weapon specs, an invaluable ability to possess, especially on their current mission.

The gears approached the double doors of the facility. The doors weren't locked, heck they were more rundown than some of the houses back at the town. Apart from the doors the facility was in pretty good condition considering it survived the hammer of dawn offensive. It had very few holes on the outer shell and the lights were still operational. Everyone in Dawn Squad was happy for that fact. Dean guessed the stranded were forced to leave not that long ago. There was left over ammunition, clothing and even some out-of-date COG armour. Dean eyed the armour carefully. It was battered. It had obviously seen it's share of action because bullet holes covered the outer shell and small dots of rust began to show upon it's dusty surface.

There was a heavy smell in the air. Gary took a whiff of the air and attempted to plug his nose "Damn this place smells like my nephews diaper after he's dropped an s-bomb!" The comment brought a welcome smile to his team-mates worn faces.

Max shook his head, a small smile upon his face but that soon turned to disgust as the smell lingered deep in the air "Plumbing must be out".

Dean walked into a room at the far end of the bottom floor and inspected the toilets "You called it Max, plumbing defiantly doesn't work!" Dean existed the room and closed the door in a vain attempt to keep the smell locked away.

The squad surrounded Biggs as he inspected the architecture. He was once an architect before the war started so he knew how to bring a house down. He walked towards a large concrete block and smiled. He placed his ear against it and knocked it with his knuckles a few times "This is one of the main support beams, by my reckoning there should be about five or six of these. This building isn't wide by any measure so there should be no more than that. Gary can you get those things to detonate off a timer?"

Gary removed an explosive and looked at it. He removed the casing and studied the inside carefully "One would think, but not with the materials I have with me now. We'd need to find a few small time bombs and use then to detonate the imulsion ones, it's the only way I can think of".

Dean nodded and turned to Max "We'll get you your bombs, Serge try to find the rest of those support blocks, Josh we need that hammer operational and it'd be nice if we could ride that King Raven outta here, if you can repair it good, if you can't don't worry about it. Max let's go". The two walked up a nearby flight of stairs and stood, awestruck! Boxes sat piled to capacity with the new weapons. They sniffed at the air. A very distinct smell hung heavy in the air but it wasn't the plumbing.

Max lifted one of the new lancers from the box "Yup these are the same. Wait, scratch that these ones are different. Serge called it right. The ones we found must have been prototypes, look, they're similar but they're defiantly not the same!"

Dean looked at the weapons Max held in his hands. He was right. The one Max obtained from the theron guard was like the old era lancer. The ones that filled the boxes were more similar to the COGs newer version, more compact and linear. Dean touched his tac/com "Serge you called it. The weapons we found were prototypes. There's a shitload of newer models up here".

Biggs' reply came quickly "Then were not to late. I've found two more main support beams, find any bombs yet?" "That's a negative, we'll call in the verdict".

The gears looked at each other and then at the large room they were in. There were only two rooms on the whole second floor. The main room they stood in now was probably for storage. Tables littered the floor, probably a defensive measure the stranded used. Old wet documents scattered the floor, they were mostly illegible, save for a few words on each page. Max approached the small room in the back. Documents littered the table "Dean we've hit the jackpot! These look like weapon designs to me".

Dean patted him on the back and eyed the documents. Some were written on paper and others on what appeared to be human skin. The paper documents were written in English while the skin documents were written using weird runes.

Dean guessed that the runes were the locust form of letters and he grunted "Anyone downstairs who can read locust? I can't make head or tail of this crap".

Max shrugged his shoulders "Not a notion man, your best bet would probably be Josh. The kid spends most of his time helping Baird and Baird's the closest thing to a locust expert we got. I'll take the documents down to him and Gary, they may be able to make head and tail of it". Max sorted the documents into a neat pile and walked from the small office.

Dean looked around for anything that might resemble a time bomb, he wasn't having much success. He looked at the stairwell, the stairs leading to the third floor were broken so he had to find another way. He approached a window and peered outside. Rain was falling in sheets, obscuring his vision. He opened it with a screech and his eyes fell upon the very thing he needed, a fire escape. He jumped across to it and froze. The fire escape made a screeching noise and Dean could do nothing but hope it wouldn't give way.

He smashed the outside window and looked at the third floor room. This floor was more office-like by what Dean could see. Small rooms dotted the floor with thin, narrow corridors connecting them. Dean walked into the corridor and turned away instantly! Corpses littered the floor, which explained the bad smell. The majority of the corpses were stripped of their flesh, probably done by wretches. Blood covered the ground but Dean was kind of relieved because the blood was dry. This wasn't done recently. He looked every room, ripping out drawers. He stopped when he found an intact journal. Dean opened it and blew the dust from the pages. It belonged to a man called Ben Anderson. Dean hadn't heard the name before but he read it regardless. He skimmed over the pages. They contained all manner of documents that Dean recognized, they were a scaled down version of the documents Max found. The book also had info on the weapons themselves. The small explosive they found was just one of these weapons. Dean flicked to the last page and began to read.

"If you are reading this then all I can do is apologise. The weapons we scientists created should never be used. I hope the person reading this doesn't follow the same path we did. Imulsion should never be turned into a weapon. But the COG pushed me and my fellow scientists to make more and more imulsion based weapons. We eventually did. It was a small sphere shaped imulsion grenade, capable of great destruction. But they carry a heavy price.

"When imulsion is detonated it releases fumes, fumes that are extremely harmful to the human body. The tests we've carried out on these fumes seem to cause an illness we scientists call 'Rust Lung'. The disease infected many among the staff, including myself. We named it such because it causes the victim to cough up a liquid that is a rusty brown colour. Its symptoms include brown and red phlegm, vomiting, troubled breathing, and coughing. The COG tried to tell us we were suffering from 'stress' but I spent nineteen years of my life serving as a doctor and let me tell you this wasn't caused by 'stress', if it was it was the worst case of stress any human being had ever experienced".

"I have but one message, tell my wife and son that I'm sorry, sorry for everything".

Dean was shocked by the contents of the journal. The last message was written in blood. Dean guessed it was the locust that killed the man but he had no proof to back up his theories. He slid the journal into his pocket and continued searching.

Max followed him up the fire escape "Dean? You up here?" Max continued walking and stopped as he came across the mauled corpses. He nearly gagged but managed to keep it down. He approached a pale Dean.

"Hey man you don't look to good. Everything all right?" Dean handed him the journal and Max flicked through it. As he skimmed through the pages his face took many different expression, mainly surprise. Max came to the last page. Max closed it quickly and handed it back to Dean. The two searched in silence, their thoughts straying to the journal of Ben Anderson.

Josh appeared from the fire escape and took a whiff of the air "Someone die up here?" He stopped and stared at the corpses a second. He suddenly dropped to his knees and vomited as he looked upon the corpses. Dean looked over to him.

"Josh you okay?" Dean's voice was filled with worry and pity.

Josh replied with a nod and walked towards them. "I managed to get the hammer working, now I'm gonna inspect that King Raven". He barely kept the contents of his stomach down and attempted to cover his nose.

Dean tapped him on the back, but caught his arm before he left "Watch yourself Josh, if there's wretches up there don't be a hero, come get help". Josh smiled at the comment "Thanks Dean". The two shook hands before departing.

Max continued searching the area. Dean dropped to his knees and looked below the tables. Max tapped him on the shoulder "Let's go man, there's nothing but dead guys in here, let's check the last floor". Dean sighed and reluctantly accepted.

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Josh approached the King Raven and eyed the machine with eyes full of awe. He admired machinery of all types because they were a series of smaller parts that were useless on their own but could create works of art when combined. He stepped into the cockpit and inspected the damage. It didn't look bad. Apart from a few holes in the outer shell the vehicle would be capable of flight if he restore power and cover the holes. He now gave himself the task of finding and joining the correct wires.

Biggs finished setting the imulsion explosives to the support pillars and walked back towards Gary. Gary was eyeing the blueprints of the weapons keenly "Hey serge look at this". Gary handed him the blueprints for a lightmass bomb "I'd wager those guys either built or where in the process of building this. If they built that thing-".

A large grin crossed Biggs' face "It would reduce this place to a pile of smouldering ash, weapons, documents and the facility included". Biggs touched his tac/com "Dean keep looking for those time bombs, but keep your eyes peeled for a lightmass bomb when your at it".

Dean raised his head and gave Max a look of surprise, shock and then happiness "A lightmass bomb? We haven't seen anything on that scale yet but I'll give you a heads up if we do". The two began their search for a lightmass bomb, knowing they wouldn't find one.

Josh pulled his finger back and blew on it, he'd got a nasty shock from the wires and groaned, he hated pain. He pushed a small switch upon the console and the front lights came on "At least we got light, now what about the rooters? Please let them work". Josh hit another switch and the machine awoke with life. The rooters began to turn, but soon slowed. Josh sighed and continued the repairs.

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Dean walked towards a small room with a closed door. He opened it and jumped to the floor as something blasted him with a shotgun! He dodged the bullets and got to his feet. A voice echoed from the room "A you a gear? Pretty dumb by the look of it".

Dean sighed realizing the voice belonged to a girl. He wanted to call her a blind bitch but that wouldn't be a good idea, Dean had two feelings towards girls. The first was respect because his brother taught him that and the second was fear. He knew girls could handle themselves in a fight and most had a viper tongue and not to mention a knee that hurt when it connected you in the right place. "Yeah I'm a gear, I'm coming in don't shoot!"

The girl shied away as he approached. Her hair was blonde and it hung at her shoulder blades. She wore a vest-like suit of COG armour on her chest, but the rest was ordinary clothing. Dean was awestruck by her beauty, he'd never seen a girl as pretty as she was, and he'd seen a lot of girls in his life. Her face was clean, something Dean thought impossible considering his surroundings. She rose from behind the couch and eyed him up and down as though he was a piece of meat. She had deep blue eyes which Dean couldn't help but be captivated by. She was shorter than Dean was and he guessed she was around the same age. She raised an eyebrow "What? Something on my face? Never seen a girl before?"

Dean shook his head "O-Of course I've seen a girl, just not one as cu-". Dean covered his mouth, he knew what he nearly said and he prayed to every deity that crossed him mind that she didn't. She did and her blue eyes pierced him. It wasn't the hostile glare he was used to when it came to girls, but her look was different. Dean couldn't figure it out.

Dean swallowed hard. He had some experience with women and the last one he tried to chat up kneed him in the crouch before slapping him across the face! She walked towards him and Dean braced himself, but nothing happened. She smiled "My names Elise, what's yours?" Her voice wasn't filled with hate, anger or any other negative emotion.

Dean was lost for words, he'd prepared a small speech in his head but instead he replied pathetically "Dean Stratton". He hadn't expected to find a girl in a weapons facility of all places, not to mention one as beautiful as she was.

She looked past him, eyeing the bent over Max "Who's your friend?" Her voice was now filled with a curious tone that made Dean more than a little jealous.

Dean looked over at Max, he began to wish he could communicate telepathically so he could tell him to piss off, but that wasn't happening and instead he replied "That's Max". He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear "He's a little crazy, a complete nut!".

She nodded and walked towards him with a smile upon her face "Don't listen to these guys, your not crazy, your special". She winked at Dean and then walked towards the windows.

Max eyed her as she walked away. He looked at Dean's smug face and cast him a hostile glare. He walked towards him "Who the fuck is that? Did she just say I wasn't crazy, but special, what the fuck did you tell her?"

A large smile appeared on Dean's face "Sorry man. I've got your back in a fight but when it comes to girls your on your own!" Dean walked past him and walked towards Elise with quick steps. Max smiled and decided he'd let it slide.

Elise stared out the window, the rain had stopped and some of the clouds had moved on, revealing the sun setting behind some mountains in the distance. Dean joined her and looked at the sky. For him it had never looked so clear, even though he stared at the same sun when he was growing up in Jacinto, this one was peaceful or at least it looked like it.

Elise cast him a glance "It's beautiful isn't it?" Dean looked at her and smiled. He thought she was more beautiful than the setting sun but he wasn't about to say that out loud. He simply nodded his head "Yeah it is".

A bullet suddenly grazed her shoulder and before Dean knew what he was doing he was shielding her from the rest. He dragged her to the ground and inspected her wound. The bullet went straight through. Dean couldn't believe her luck. He looked out the window and saw several locust running up the road towards the facility…

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. If you liked this chapter then please leave a review, all comments and help is appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	9. War on The Isles

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 9

"Max we got company!" Shouted Dean as the bullets continued to fly past him.

Max nodded and tossed Dean two frag grenades "Serge, Gary we got locust! Get your asses out of there!" Max ran and slid along the ground, stopping beside Dean. He had a smile upon his face that looked out of place. Dean sighed and decided to pay it no mind "Please let us life!"

Gary and Biggs placed an old bookcase against the door and then an old chest of drawers. They used whatever they could get their hands on, chairs, tables it didn't matter, for them this was their last stand! Gary tossed Biggs his shotgun, the stranded had already used scrap metal to cover the downstairs windows so the only entrance was through the front door!

Dean leaned out the window and split the skull of a single locust with his Hammerburst. In times like these the Hammerburst began to shine, it's amazing accuracy and firepower could easily kill a locust, even at Dean's distance. Max lobbed a smoke grenade into the group of locust and waited for the explosion. He switched to his modified lancer and sprayed the smoke with bullets, he didn't care if the bullets hit or not, there were locust in there and he couldn't miss them all.

Dean knelt and removed Elise's hand from her shoulder. The wound was deep but it didn't look as bad as he previously thought. However there was still a hole in her shoulder and that fact worried him. He removed his bandana revealing messy black hair that hung at his shoulders. He tied it around the wound, it was rough but it would still benefit her. He lifted one of the frag grenades and hurled it out the window.

The explosion came swiftly soon after, spreading locust body parts across the front garden and front door. Biggs and Gary looked at each other, they knew if the locust got inside it would probably be over. Biggs reluctantly sighed "Dean we've got the charges set, scrap those time bombs, we'll use the damn hammer!"

Gary took some pieces of wood and cloth and used them to cover the imulsion grenades, they wouldn't be enough to level the building on their own, but they'd certainly punch a sizable hole in the support pillars. The two sprinted towards the stairs, bullets flying through the wall almost hitting them! Gary fell to the ground, barely avoiding a Longshot bullet through the wall. He was lucky, if he hadn't of fell the bullet would have removed his head! He got to his feet and climbed the stairs with quick strides, easily clearing three steps at a time.

Biggs stopped and planted two grenades at the top of the stairs. They looked at the stairwell. Despair began to kick in. Max appeared at the top of the broken stairwell "Take the fire escape, it's near the back of the room on the outside of the building!"

Biggs and Gary nodded and darted towards the window. Gary jumped first, easily clearing the jump. Biggs looked at the distance and shook his head. He swallowed hard and jumped. However he misjudged the gap and slipped the second he landed! Gary reacted fast and caught his sergeants hand "I've got you serge! Pull yourself up". Biggs reached with his other hand and caught the railing of the fire escape. With the two working together Biggs pulled himself up. The two nodded and climbed through the third floor window. Gary looked back and placed two frag grenades on the wall, near the bolts that held the fire escape in place.

Dean fell backwards as a bullet lodged in his armour, he sighed with relieve, thankful it didn't go through. He jumped up and sprayed the area with his snub pistol, managing to down two locust! Max released another bullet from his Longshot removing a locust drones head, he reloaded and repeated the sequence. Gary reached for his pendulum era lancer and sprayed the area. Biggs removed the other lancer from his back and joined him.

Josh looked down at the battle "Oh fuck, oh fuck! Ah come on work you piece of shit!" The rooters began to turn but then slowed once again. Josh shook his head "I take it back, your not a piece of shit! Ah come baby, work for me, give me some good news!" He slammed the cockpit controls with both hands and laughed as the engine roared into life "Ha-Ha-Ha! Who says mindless violence doesn't solve problems? No, no don't die on me!" Josh sighed and continued working on the King Raven talking to it as though it was alive.

Max screamed in agony as a bullet tore through his right calf! Dean stopped firing to inspect the wound "Oh shit, Max it's lodged in there!" Elise placed her hand on Dean's "I'll handle him, you do what you do best!"

Dean reluctantly nodded "Look after him". Dean yelled and returned to his window, mercilessly mowing down locust after locust! He dropped his head to reload and then repeated, yelling with every mag he emptied! His screams were more frightening than the boom of a grinder or boomer and the locust seemed to slow. Dean popped up again and hurled two grenades in quick succession! The locust dove for cover, Gary had to admit that watching the locust jump around and then get blew to bits was like something out of a dream, he looked at his frightening comrade and grinned.

Biggs heard an explosion echo throughout the building "They've breached the front door, take position!" Biggs ran to the top of the broken stairwell and toppled a filing drawer. He ducked behind it and switched to his gnasher shotgun "Dawn Squad! If this is our last stand then we'll make the locust remember it! Give them hell!"

Gary patted Dean on the back "I'd tell you to give them no quarter but you've been doing that for a while now!" Dean couldn't help but laugh, the two clasped hands before Gary departed.

Max propped himself up beside Dean "It'll take more than a bullet in the leg to keep me down! Let's show these locust what were made of!" The two clasped their hands together and continued to fire. Elise reached for Dean's snub pistol and Max's Boltok. She began to fire and the boys could do little else but smile.

Dean released another six shot burst, as Max released another bullet from his Longshot. The two friends ducked as a boomer fired an explosive charge through the window! It detonated against a filing drawer, scattering papers and documents everywhere! Dean looked at the papers until one caught his eye. He knew them to be building blueprints. He picked up a stone and wrapped the paper around the stone "Serge! Take a look at this!" Max popped up and removed the boomers head with a well placed Longshot bullet, spraying the ground outside with boomer brains.

Biggs caught the paper and unravelled it. He studied it carefully "…Is that a basement? Dean good news. By the look of it this place is powered with an imulsion generator! If we can blow that-".

Dean smiled "We blow the whole place, Josh got the hammer working, go get it off him!" Max laughed "Let's pray to God he gets that King Raven up and running, otherwise were fucked!"

Elise grunted "I'd say that's what's happening now!". Biggs ran past them and patted his gears on the back "Keep those grubs off us a little longer guys!" Biggs ran up the stairs and out the roof door. He stopped and looked at Josh, he was still talking to the King Raven, begging it to operate.

Josh looked at the console and tried the engine again. It spluttered and then gave out again. He screamed in aggravation and checked the engine again "What the hell is wrong with you? Work damn you work!"

Biggs ran towards him "Hey Josh give me the hammer!" Josh took his head from the among the engine and threw it to him "I tell you, if that satellite is overhead then we've lucked out!" Biggs cast his fellow gear a knowing face, Biggs was never a man to believe in something as unpredictable as 'luck' but even he found himself relying on it.

Gary smiled as he heard the grenades he planted on the fire escape detonated, however a small part of it was still intact and one locust climbed through the window. Gary smiled and decided he'd try out his bayonet. He ran forward and shifted his momentum to the bayonet, sticking the locust in the chest! He pulled it free and severed it's head, blood spewing the walls, ground and Gary himself! He laughed and looked at it with pride, he'd found himself a keeper.

The fire escape however was still intact and Gary reached for his second lancer, but found nothing. He sighed and planted another grenade to the damaged fire escape, hoping it would give it the final push it needed. He sprinted back towards the front windows and joined Dean, Max and Elise.

Dean looked at him with a nervous face, the locust were pushing hard and slowly but surely they were advancing. Dean and the others were alerted to another e-hole opening below them. Max reached for a grenade but found none, he was out. Dean smiled and reached for his cousins Torque Bow. Max smiled as he primed an arrow "Do those things close e-holes?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders and eyed the e-hole "They explode don't they? Only one way to find out!" Dean released the arrow! The arrow seemed to travel at a snail's pace in the eyes of the gears. The arrow slammed into the inside of the e-hole and detonated, closing it and taking out a drone in the process! Dean and Max celebrated with a high-five but soon dropped their heads as more bullets flew past them. They were running low on ammo.

Dean slotted another mag into his Hammerburst "Down to four". Max pinged another locust in the skull at long-range "I've got six bullets left!" He switched to his modified lancer and picked off another locust without even looking down the scope "Down to five!"

Gary downed another locust and laughed "You mean to tell me we have all these guns and none of them have no God damn bullets! Ah fuck this!" Gary jumped to his feet and lobbed his final two grenades out the window, one frag and one inker!

The poison smoke did more than poison the locust, it created a thick smog that prevented the locust from seeing. The locust were suddenly torn in shreds! Biggs' laughing voice echoed down the radio "The chain gun on the King Raven still works! Find some ammo boys, I'll keep them grubs at bay!"

Max looked at the others "My leg's still busted, pick me up some, I'll give serge a hand!" Max turned and picked off the ones the chain gun missed. Dean frantically hurled things out of the way, his face instantly lit up as he found the ammo he was looking for. He turned to Max "Hey that modified lancer of your uses Hammerburst rounds right?" Max flashed him a thumbs up as he continued to shot. Dean slid beside him and dropped a crate of Hammerburst ammunition at their feet.

Max looked at the box and then at Dean "You hit the jackpot! I feel like a millionaire!" The two primed their weapons and continued firing! Another explosion sounded through the building as the fire escape fell to the ground, preventing the locust from getting any higher than the second floor! The gears stopped firing and moved to the roof, they needed quick evac.

Josh was still tinkering away at the King Raven "Oh come on, work! Why won't you work?" Josh kicked the engine and it spluttered into life. He eyed it strangely and then looked at the controls "Serge it's now or never!"

Biggs nodded his acknowledgement "Dean, Max, Gary get your asses up here. The King Raven is running!" Elise opened the door quickly and sprinted towards the chopper. Gary and Dean came next carrying Max, who had received another injury in the opposite leg. They set him on one of the seats. Dean and Gary nodded and jumped in. Biggs looked at his squad and smiled "Okay, anyone know how to fly one of these things?"

The gears looked at each other with blank faces, they hadn't thought of that. Gary shook his head "Hell no! I'm still payin for the last one I blew up!" Biggs looked at him with a curious glare "How'd you manage that?" Gary stood with a goofy smile upon his face "It involved a frag grenade and a women who wouldn't stop stalking me, need I say more?"

Dean reluctantly raised his hand "…I can…kinda fly one". Everyone present looked at him as though they were just struck across the face by a tone of bricks. Max smiled "That's good enough for me, let's get the hell outta here pilot Stratton!"

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. If you liked this then please leave a review, all comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	10. Bitter Pill to Swallow

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 10

Dean took his seat in the cockpit and looked at the controls with more than a little fear "Okay that button". The King Raven lurched forward and Dean struggled to bring it back to it's original position. Gary eyed him with fear "Dude if your driving like that then let me the fuck out!"

Max held onto the handrails tightly "Don't listen to him Dean, you can do this".

Dean breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm himself. He knew he could fly but he wasn't sure he could do it with all the pressure. Max, Gary, Biggs, Josh and Elise, all there lives rested in his hands and he screamed at the top of his lungs! Max knew what he was going through and with help from Josh sat in the seat beside him "Okay Dean were gonna do this together".

Dean looked at Max and smiled. He was thankful that Max was in Dawn Squad, he knew Max was reliable and he wouldn't know what he'd do if he wasn't there. He placed his hand on the controls and steadied the chopper. He lurched it forward slightly and then gained altitude. The controls were slowly coming back to him and he pieced the controls together piece by piece. His thoughts were interrupted as a Corpser rose from a large e-hole!

Gary cradled the hammer of dawn in both his arms as though it was a child "Hey serge! Am I levelling this thing or not?" Biggs raised his hand and shook his head. Gary lowered the weapon and slotted it safely below the seat in a secret compartment. He looked into the back storage compartment and gave it a second glance. He made his way across and inspected his find, they were Longspear rockets. Luckily a Longspear launcher sat in the back hid behind some scrap metal. Gary took the launcher and slotted one of the missiles down the firing chamber.

Biggs eyed the weapon with more than a little fear "Where the hell did you get that!?" Biggs had a great deal of wonder in his voice.

Gary didn't reply and moved to the gap in the side of the chopper. He turned to his squad mates "You may want to stand in the supply area until I fire. This things dangerous to anyone standing behind it for a good twenty meters!" Gary got the Corpser in his sights and grinned "Don't want to get back in your hole? How about I give you a hand!" Gary pulled the trigger and the missile shot towards it's target! After fifteen meters the rocket's engines accelerated it, hurtling it towards the Corpser and any locust unfortunate enough to be close! The Corpser was blown to bit's the large e-hole with it! Body parts and blood splattered the walls of the facility as Biggs looked at the weapon and then the facility.

Elise took up position at the chain gun and primed it for firing. Dean looked at the controls and moved the King Raven away from the facility. Biggs patted Gary on the shoulder "You're the weapons expert. What's the range on that thing?"

Gary thought a few seconds before giving a reply "It can be used at long-range, this thing was originally designed to punch through 22inches of tank armour!" Biggs nodded at the last comment "Aim at the buildings second floor, the floor is filled with weapons, grenades and documents. The explosion will be enough to reduce most to scrap and burn most of the plans".

Gary turned and took aim at the building. He slotted in another rocket and told the others to back up. The rocket shot from the chamber and accelerated towards the building! It penetrated the wall and detonated, the walls were blown to bits, the only thing holding the building up were the support beams!

Josh took up position and removed the hammer of dawn from below the seat. He looked to the sky and prayed. Dean raised the altitude so he was just above the helipad. Josh focused the laser but nothing happened "Damn satellites!" Biggs looked at his squad and smiled "I'm honoured to have fought in the same squad as you gears. Sergeant Dean, look after them! He pulled off his COG tags. He snatched the Longspear from Gary and lowered himself onto the helipad using a rope. Max and Josh leapt at Gary to retrain him.

Biggs gave his men one final salute as he ran back into the facility, Longspear in hand and courage in his heart. He reached the third floor quickly and after firing through the gap in the stairs lowered himself down. The second floor was a mess. He looked at the destroyed weapons and touched his tac/com "Gary if you have any grenades then throw them into this room! If I can't bring the facility down then make sure the weapon plans are destroyed!" Biggs looked at his gears and nodded "Get it done!"

Gary and Josh looked at the locust as they pointed to the building. Gary screamed in anger as he primed his pendulum era lancer and fired upon the locust below! Josh and Max nodded and joined him. Dean moved the chopper to the left so Elise could get a better shot with the chain gun. The locust eventually turned their attention to the King Raven and opened fire. Bullets skimmed past the chopper but Dawn weren't going to stop firing. They were determined to give their sergeant whatever cover they could!

Biggs set the Longspear aside and took his lancer and gnasher. He ran at the locust firing both! He slammed into a nearby table and lobbed a grenade, he had only one left and he decided to keep it. He rolled to the side and shredded a locust with his gnasher! He strapped it to his back and emptied another mag of his lancer as he mowed down two locust drones! He ran down the stairs and entered the first floor. He dove for cover as bullets began to skim past him. He ran back the other way and picked up the Longspear.

He smiled as dean lowered the King Raven! Elise shredded the locust with the chain gun as Gary, Max and Josh fired upon the locust still in the courtyard. Biggs sprinted towards the back of the room and opened the small door which led to the basement. He touched his tac/com "Farewell lads, tell my family I had to do this, tell them I love them!" Biggs ripped the tac/com from his ear and readied the Longspear. Three bullets hit him in the back but he still took aim.

Another bullet hit him and another. His vision began to fade but he shook it off "These weapons will never see the light of day!" He squeezed the trigger and the missile flew towards the imulsion powered generator! Dean lurched the King Raven forward and climbed higher and higher. A massive explosion erupted through the floor, engulfing Biggs and detonating the imulsion grenades! The building fell in among itself as the main support pillars gave way. A massive dust cloud obscured their vision but the sound was all they needed to hear.

Max limped to the edge of the King raven and looked at the rubble that was once a building. He gave Biggs a salute "Rest in peace serge…" Gary punched the side of the raven "Biggs!!!" He basically fell onto his seat. Dean sighed and flew in the direction of Jacinto. Dawn were knackered, although they completed their mission the price was high. They lost more than just a sergeant, they lost a friend. No stories of heroism were told and no songs of victory were sung. "Another crime the locust will pay for" Thought Dean.

Max placed a comforting hand on Gary's shoulder as tears came to the gears eyes. Max didn't blame him, Gary had spent his entire military career serving under Biggs, to him it was like loosing a father. Josh sat in silence, Biggs was always there to tell him "That's a reaver, keep your head down" or "Watch your back Josh". Josh broke down and cried as he though about Biggs earning an emotional pat on the back from Max.

Elise sat in the seat beside Dean, tears filled his eyes, he and Biggs had their differences but they still trusted each other and to Dean trust was the best quality a man could possess and Biggs possessed it. He felt a soft hand touch his and he looked across at Elise. He allowed himself one small moment of happiness before he returned to his sorrow. Biggs would be missed…

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The King Raven passed over the ruins of Ephyra City, the area Dean spent the first three years of his life. The sight brought back painful memories but he had plenty of them at the minute and refused to linger on them. Dean heard a welcome voice on the radio, it was Rose "Biggs! I thought you guys were dead. Dawn? Please respond". The comment was like pouring salt on an open wound and each member of Dawn Squad avoided each others eyes.

Dean reluctantly placed his finger on his tac/com "Dean Stratton here. Biggs is dead control. KIA…" Dean could barely hold back the tears as the words echoed throughout his mind "Biggs is dead, KIA, Biggs is dead, KIA". It was like a bad dream he couldn't wake up from and with each echo increased his pain further.

Rose stuttered a moment before replying "Repeat Dean, Biggs is dead?" Her voice sounded sad and her tears were soon felt by every member of Dawn Squad. They're silence was all the conformation she needed "The south platform is free for landing…"

Dean silently approached the platform and landed the King Raven smoothly. Each member existed the chopper and approached an already present Colonel Hoffman. Dean stopped before him and handed him Biggs' COG tags "He deserves a hero's burial, you once told me one gear must be like an army in their own right. Biggs was one of those gears".

Gary helped Max as they walked past Hoffman. Elise sprinted to catch up with Dean. They were looking forward to some much needed R and R and they were gonna enjoy every second of it. A gear Dean recognised as Gus approached them. He was a small but muscular man. He patted Dean on the back "Why the long faces? You guys just got back from hell's half acre!" Gus looked past Dean and gazed at Dawn's worn, forlorn faces. Gus sighed "You guys look like everyone you knew just died!"

The comment was like a hammer blow and Gary could take no more! He walked past Gus and pinned him against the wall "Tell me fuck face who was our Dawn Squads sergeant!?"

Gus could barely breath "B-Biggs!" Gary nodded his head "Is he here? No because he died! Now close your mouth before I break it!" Gary released his grip and walked on, his anger turning back to sadness…

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. If you liked this then please leave a review, thanks for reading!


	11. Nash Stratton

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 11

Dean was in the dining room. A number of gears dotted the large room, all talking about trivial things that kept their mind busy. But there was no topic that could take Dean's mind off of Biggs' death. He went over the event at least a hundred times in his head, trying to find a way he could've helped, could've made a difference.

He reluctantly sighed, he knew dwelling on this subject would eventually drive him mad and there were plenty of things around that could do that, the locust and even a few gears who didn't know when to keep their mouths shut were two of those.

A small smile came to Dean's face as he looked at the dinner menu, today's special was lasagne. The last time he had lasagne was when he ate it with his three brothers. He grunted at the thought "Great I've brought back more memories".

Dean was about to leave when none other than Nash, his older brother approached him "Hey kiddo, how you holdin up?" His voice was full of a strength Dean knew since childhood. Nash was the oldest of the four brothers and the most experienced in battle, life and diaper changing. He was twelve years old when the locust arrived and the one who was responsible for getting Dean and his brothers out alive.

Dean couldn't help but think about it. Although he was only three years old at the time he remembered it as though it was yesterday. He was sitting on his brothers knee playing poker, well more like pointing at the pictures on the cards and saying "I like that one brother". An e-hole opened in the kitchen and his father, a retired hero from the pendulum wars went to check it, only to be shot at close range with a Hammerburst. Nash was the only one that overcame his sorrow long enough to do something. He grabbed Dean and his two twin brothers Tony and Ricky who were only born and ran upstairs and hid in a cupboard. Dean always looked up to his brother, but since that day he was more than a brother, he was their father, friend and protector. Wherever Nash went Dean wasn't far behind. Dean often referred to him as his 'guardian angel' and he truly was.

Dean smiled at the memories, although it was horrible when the locust arrived that one event brought he and his brother closer. Dean looked at his brother with a welcome smile "I'll be fine. How are you? I heard your squad came under heavy fire on your recon mission to Landown, I was worried".

Nash nodded his head at the comment, obviously amused "Come on you know how careful we are. Besides I serve under Sergeant Jace Stratton and Corporal Harrie Rossi, no matter how close death comes the pale horse won't catch us with those two leading us, the two are the definition of carefulness, Jace ain't half as bad as Rossi though. I bet you twenty bucks he uses caution when he goes for a piss, scared an ant may crawl up his ass!" Nash was full of quotes that had little or no relevance to the current topic that helped lighten the mood, another trait Dean admired.

Nash caught him by the arm and pulled him over to the queue. Nash looked at the sign ahead "Beef pie? Sounds good! What you havin?"

Dean looked at the uninviting menu and sighed "How do you eat that damn pie? Last time I had that shit it left me on the toilet for the better part of a week! I think I'll play it safe. Get me a fry, haven't eaten anything today".

Nash looked at his brother "Hey why was Phil's girlfriend disappointed?" Dean looked at him strangely "He burnt down her house? How the hell would I know!" Nash smiled and picked up his plate before handing Dean his "She discovered his thirty-two inch was a television". Dean couldn't help but laugh, his brother was always cracking jokes. The two returned to their table and sat down.

Nash dug into his pie, not caring about the heat. Dean eyed him strangely yet again "You'd think you'd never seen meat the way your shovelling that in ya!" Nash smiled and replied, spitting food over him as he did so "Try you going *swallow* four days without a proper meal, you'll be thankful for whatever you get! Have you ever tried surviving on COG military rations? Those things wouldn't fill a dog".

Dean was one of the few gears who actually liked the rations and he knew his brother was only having a go "Just because they do bad things to your digestive system doesn't mean you have to bitch about them!" Nash gave his brother a funny face and stuck out his tongue "Listen to you. Seems to me you can do your fair share of bitching. And they don't do bad things to my digestive system, they just give me cramps!" Dean shook his head "Same thing!"

Nash looked at the door and whistled. He elbowed Dean "Yo bro get a load of that, damn!" Dean looked and sighed as Elise walked towards him. She was wearing normal civilian clothing and a pair of jeans. Nash looked at his brother and Elise continually and finally looked at his brother with a cheesy grin and goofy face "You like her!"

Dean covered his mouth "Tell the whole world why don't ya? Keep your voice down!" Elise walked to the line after casting Dean a mischievous glance, which Nash picked up on immediately. Dean looked at his brother as Nash got to his feet. He began walking towards Elise and Dean nearly fainted "Get back here you!"

Nash approached her "Hey, you know my brother right? Guy sittin over there? The one with the goofy face and dumb-ass smile". Elise looked at him and waved "Yeah I now him, you are?". "Nash Stratton, the oldest".

Dean looked in horror "Damn I wish I knew how to lip read!" Nash soon returned with a smug look on his face "Yup she likes you" There was an obvious level of enjoyment in Nash's voice as he said it.

Dean sat gob smacked "What did you say? And how the hell did you figure that one out!?" Nash looked at him with a serious face "How many women have I known? Trust me, I know. And if you haven't seen the signs she's been dropping then you need your fucking eyes checked! She gave you the 'look' when she walked in, and again when she walked past you, come on bro how much encouragement do you need? Get up there and talk to her! GO!" Nash waved him up and even pushed him "Go before I plant my foot in your ass!"

Max saw the commotion from across the room approached Nash "What are the odds he fucks this up?" Nash scratched the stubble on his chin "…I've got twenty bucks that says he leaves with her, whatever happens after that I don't have a part in. Deal?" Max shook his hand "I say he blows it, you know what he's like with women. Remember the last one? The girl with brown hair?" A cold chill ran up Nash's back "Don't go there man, she was a babe fair enough, but man was she a fucking stalker. You know there not right in the head when they stalk Hoffman". A smile came to Max's face "True, true".

Dean ran his fingers through his hair, when he was nervous he normally had his Hammerburst to grip but this time was different and if he reached for his Hammerburst it would only cause a panic. He felt like every eye in the room was focused on him and it made him more than a little uncomfortable. Elise giggled as he approached due to him tripping on a stool leg. Dean walked up to her "Come here often?"

Nash's mouth dropped as he shook his head. Nash reluctantly handed over the twenty bucks and looked at his brother with a murderous glare. "That little shit cost me twenty bucks, twenty bucks! Hold me back!" Max caught his jacket. Nash began to run at his little brother "Let go I'm gonna kill him!" Max smiled and let go. Nash stopped and looked at his jacket and then at Max "Max I think your missing the whole point here".

Dean looked at her, trying to recover "Okay that was stupid, want to go somewhere? I know a few goods spots around the city with brilliant views". Elise smiled and caught his arm "Lead the way, and calm down Dean, I won't bite you ye know". Dean smiled and breathed out "It's only because my brothers over there, he's a real pain in the ass". The two walked out and Nash raised his fist in the air "Bring forth the cash! Oh look at all that lovely money!" He rubbed the notes in Max's face. He reached forward and kissed Max on the cheek which prompted a smile from Max "You crazy bastard!" Nash laughed loudly "Hey want to know the real crazy thing? I don't give a fuck, I just won my first bet in years! I should do this more often! Make a mini fortune!"

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Rose worked well into the early hours trying to dig up whatever info she could on the weapons facility. She knew something was up. She had questions, too many questions which she couldn't answer. For example, why were the weapons just left there? If they were in working order why weren't the locust using them? Was there a problem with them and if there was, what was it? She rubbed her temples and flicked the sleep from her eyes. Anya had left about two hours ago leaving Rose to dig around alone.

Rose looked through the documents again until her line of thought was broken by Josh, her younger brother "I thought you left with Anya. Come on even you need sleep sis. This can wait until tomorrow".

Rose set the papers on the table and looked at her younger brother "I need to find some answers, there's to much going on at that facility for us to have hardly any info on it. Any time I find a link the computer blocks me out".

Josh pulled up a seat and looked at the computers. He checked her history "Soteroa Weapons Facility makes breakthrough. That what you looking?" Rose acknowledged him with a nod before sipping coffee from her mug. Josh cracked his fingers "Watch me work, I'll have you in in a few seconds". Within seconds he had gained access.

Rose looked at him with amazement before sighing "You told me you'd stop hacking the COG database". Josh simply shrugged his shoulders "That's like a flower swearing off sunlight, it just ain't gonna happen sis. Now pull the data and then get to sleep. I'll give you a hand with this stuff tomorrow". Rose continued to look at the screen until Josh spoke again "Now or I'll hack the computer so it doesn't even let you open a new page!" Rose looked at her little brother and finally gave in "Okay you win". She put her arm around him as the two returned to their room.

Josh sighed "Why do you work so hard anyway? Anya would give you all the clearance you needed tomorrow morning". Rose smiled "I don't like it when my little brother gets shipped off to some dark zone without us at control having any info. I need to answer some questions. Josh nodded and smiled, he knew she was doing it for him and the thought brought him a great amount of comfort.

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Dean returned to his room and removed his armour and boots. He climbed onto the top bunk and stretched out. He only managed to put his head down as two voices echoed, one from below and the other to the right. He shared the room with Nash, Max and Jace so he rarely got peace. "So how'd your little date go?"

Dean sighed "This couldn't wait could it?" Three voices spoke in unison "Nope". Dean looked to his right "Good to see ya Jace, let me guess your in on this to?" Jace grinned in the darkness "Yup". Nash raised his head until it was level with Dean's bunk "Were gonna find out sooner or later bro, so I'd save yourself now! What happened?"

Dean reluctantly sighed "Does it really matter?" "YES!" came the reply from everyone. Dean shook his head "We walked around Jacinto and talked. That's all!" Nash reached for the light switch and eyed his brother strangely "Biggest pile of crap you've ever tried to feed me, spill it!"

Dean had nowhere left to run, his faints weren't working and he was beginning to realize it "I kissed her okay!? You guys happy? Or do you wanna hear about the way I held her hand and what streets we walked down?"

Nash shrugged his shoulders "Depends on the streets in question and what way you held her hand. Was it the normal 'friendly way' or the 'I ain't letting go no matter what way' or the 'I love you so much way?'"

Dean shook his, he couldn't help but smile and gave his brother a high five "You're an annoying bastard you know that?" Nash rubbed his head, messing his hair up even more "Ah you love me really!" Dean looked across at Jace and Max who were practically pissing themselves laughing. Dean flashed his friend a thumbs up who replied with a two finger salute.

Nash put his hand into a secret compartment he made in the floor. He took from it four glasses and two bottles of brandy "I fancy a drink. You guys in?"

Each one in the room got to their feet and took their glasses. Nash poured them each a glassful and raised his glass "Here's to…our health! Scratch that shit! Here's to Dean and his new love interest!" Each gear downed their glass. They spoke for hours about everything that crossed their minds…

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I plan on including Nash in the remaining chapters because I like his character. If you enjoyed this chapter then please leave a review. Thanks for reading!


	12. Timgad Station

Lightmass Offensive

I know Delta Squad detonated the lightmass bomb quicker in the game, but to fit in with my story they were delayed a couple of days. Apart from that there is no big change.

Chapter 12

Dean walked towards control, he wanted to know how the investigation was coming along regarding the weapons facility. He and Dawn had told Rose and Anya everything, the plans they found, the weapons and even the journal of one Ben Anderson. Dean couldn't shift the thought from his mind, he knew the hollow was filled with imulsion and that the COG were planning to launch the lightmass bomb. He couldn't stop thinking about 'Rust Lung', an illness caused by imulsion fumes.

He thought back a few hours ago when he voiced his concerns about the illness only for Richard Prescott and Colonel Hoffman to outright ignore him, something that pissed him off to no end. If the lightmass bombing didn't kill the locust. He stopped in his tracks imagining how much harder things would be if they were forced to fight angry locust, not that they weren't angry as it was, with an illness that made you puke a rusty brown substance and then for the COG to tell you that you were suffering from 'stress'.

He turned and looked into the horizon, it was a clear day, something that Dean wasn't used to. Normally when you looked into the sky you say nothing but Nemacyst inking the sky, removing the warm glow of the sun. He felt a hand pat his shoulder and he turned as is brother stood beside him, a strong but kind expression upon his battle worn face.

A smile crossed Nash's face as he looked into the horizon, the sun was rising, bathing the land in a warm, welcome light that seemed to rejuvenate all who laid eyes upon it. Nash's eyes were fixed upon the scene as he spoke "You'd wonder how a sight that beautiful could exist in a world as fucked up as this one".

Dean shrugged his shoulders "Yeah but I'm thankful for it, I mean look at it. Sure beats the back end of a locust". Nash smiled at the comment "I see you've picked up more of my bad habits". He rubbed his little brothers head, messing up his hair. The two turned and walked towards control. Dean stopped for a short while and gazed back at the setting sun before walking on, back to reality.

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Josh rubbed his eyes, he'd spent the majority of the morning helping Rose hack the system for more info on the facility. They'd found out more than they had bargained for. The basement Dawn had found wasn't used for storage or even as a weapons facility. It was used for experiments, the specifics weren't given, even in the classified files. All the info they had was that it had something to do with 'mankind's survival'. Josh didn't buy that crap for a second, he knew something was up but he had no way of knowing and no way of finding out. After all the facility was blown apart and COG had no data regarding the so called experiments, heck none of the documents they managed to bring back with them even hinted towards the basement.

Gary sat beside him, he was helping him flick through the logistics for the weaponry, the parts they used, the firing mechanisms, heck just about everything regarding them. The weapons were better than Gary had originally gave them credit for. He spent the whole night checking the specs and focused more on the finer details and not the outward appearances. Sure they closely resembled the COG models but they were more advanced, integrating specs from several weapons into a single unit. Gary noticed the best was probably the new Boltok Hammerburst as Gary called it. It carried a twenty round magazine that used Boltok rounds. But the deadliest part of the whole gun was probably the improved firing rate, it was capable of firing a five shot burst. It even had the Hammerburst's amazing accuracy! Gary shuddered just looking at the specs, the Boltok was capable of puncturing COG armour from a distance and now their was a weapon the locust may possess that could fire five of those at you at one time!

Gary set the documents aside and looked at his watch, it was only a quarter to four, but he was already bushed. Josh took a slug from his mug and gagged, it was his sister's coffee, something he absolutely hated! He set the cup aside and lifted his own, downing the warm tea quickly. The two stretched out their legs and closed their eyes.

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Dean and Nash walked through the double doors and walked towards Rose, Anya and Max. Max had arrived a few minutes before the others and stood with a grave face. Dean picked up on it immediately and looked around. An injured gear sat upon a chair, his wounds weren't fatal but they still looked bad. Max caught Dean's arm and took him to the side "Delta Squad just got a shitload of info from East Barricade Academy. It's the locust tunnels. The whole fucking hollow, it's massive! Here look!" Max pointed to the computer screen.

Dean walked towards the computer monitor with his brother watching over his shoulder. The hollow had countless small tunnels branching off the main ones that dotted the whole crust of Sera. Dean felt faint just looking at it and sat upon a computer chair. Nash looked at it again and pointed at one of the larger tunnels "Now that we have this data why don't we just follow them and see where they go, heck one of them may actually take us to their main stronghold!"

Dean and Max looked at each other and then at Nash. Anya went to speak but then stopped after she thought a second "The COG would never allow it, to risky". Nash shook his head and rolled his eyes "Figures, what about Dom and the others, where are they?" Anya pulled up another page on the screen "They managed to get away from the Fenix Estate before the locust surrounded them, but now they're stuck at an electric bridge with a Brumak chasing them". Anya seemed to sound rather calm about that.

Rose however wasn't as calm. She thought Delta were dead. Dean rose from his seat and turned to Anya "Anya have we any choppers ready for departure?" Anya hit a few keys on the keyboard and waited a few seconds before replying "None".

Nash however shook his head "There is one left, the one you guys took back with you, does it still run?" Dean met his gaze and smiled "…Yeah but it's not the best, it only has one operational chain gun with no forward guns. But it flies, barely". Nash raised an eyebrow and shook his head, he wasn't surprised in the least "That'll do, let's saddle up boys, we got a Brumak to kill!" Anya handed him a piece of paper which Nash slide into his pocket.

The gears left the room and sprinted towards their armoury. Dean placed his Torque Bow on his back and held his Hammerburst in his right hand. He slide two snub pistols into the holsters on his legs and nodded to his team mates. Gary and Josh arrived soon after and readied themselves. Max strapped his Longshot to his back and cradled the modified lancer in his arms. Dean looked at the weapon with a mixture of awe and respect but mostly fear. It had a forty round magazine that fired Hammerburst rounds, not a nice combo when your on the receiving end, but he wasn't worried about that because Max wasn't one to mistake a gear for a drone.

Nash followed them after getting Jace. The two were already ready. Nash had two gorgon pistols, both resting in their holsters with a Hammerburst on his back. They were Nash's trademark weapons. Dean once watched him down a locust a sniper couldn't even hit at long range, Nash's aim was amazing, after all he was the man who taught both Dean and Max to shoot.

Jace carried a regular lancer with a shotgun strapped to his back with a Boltok pistol resting in it's holster. His armour was identical to Marcus's suit because he hero worshipped him. Gary and Josh stood up ready. Josh had his lancer in his hands with the repaired hammer of dawn he took from the Southern Isles. Gary lifted a mulcher turret and smiled menacingly. He had pendulum era lancer on his back with a Longshot resting beside it. He set the mulcher on a seat and spun a snub pistol around his finger before slotting it into it's holster. He reached for the mulcher, receiving a fearful expression from his team-mates. Gay shrugged his shoulders "Our King Raven has only one turret. Use your heads!"

The gears walked outside and were greeted by Elise who wore a suit of COG armour with a gorgon pistol in her right hand and a snub pistol in her holster, which sat at her waist. Dean looked at her with surprise "What the hell? What are you doing here? She walked towards him and took him off to the side "I'm coming with you, let me tell you right now you can't change my mind". Dean sighed and smiled "Hey I never said that. It's just-" "Just what? Because I'm a girl?" Dean shook his head and raised an eyebrow "No, I just don't want you to get hurt! The locust don't give a shit if you're man, women or child! They won't hesitate!" Elise smiled and took his hand in hers "Neither will I".

Colonel Hoffman looked at the gears "Elise want's to accompany you so I allowed her, Nash, Jace you're in charge! I want that Brumak killed ASAP and that bomb detonated! You will join with Delta and complete the mission. Good luck gears!" The gears gave him a salute and then jogged towards the south platform.

The King Raven was still there, undergoing minor repairs. Two pilots sprinted towards the group which relieved Dean to no end, he didn't exactly want to find himself at the helm of a King Raven again anytime soon. Dawn Squad climbed aboard. Gary slotted the mulcher turret to the left side, giving the chopper the ability to fire from both sides. Dean sat near the edge with Max. Nash looked at the pilots and made a circling motion with his finger. The pilots nodded and the King Raven rose into the sky.

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The King Raven flew through the sky quickly and smoothly, something Dawn hadn't experienced during their last flight, it was more like a roller coaster that hadn't gone quite right. Dean looked into the back storage area and saw Gary and Josh stretched out sleeping. Since they got back from the isles the two together have had about six hours kip so Dean figured he'd leave them alone. Nash and Jace were discussing the map Anya gave them before they left. It showed two locations. The area near the non-operational bridge and Timgad Station. Timgad was the location the squad would wait for the train holding their last chance, the lightmass bomb!

Max moved to the other unoccupied seats and stretched himself out over it, wrapping a few seatbelts around him so he wouldn't fall out. Elise moved quickly and sat down beside Dean "What's wrong? You seem tense". Dean sighed and turned his head to face her "I'm not tense, I was thinking". Max smirked "You should try to stop that man, makes your head hurt. Let the ones who get paid for it do it".

Dean ignored his friend and looked into the horizon, unbeknownst to them they were closer to their target than they thought… Elise looked at him and placed a comforting hand on his "I'll be fine, I'll keep my head down". Dean shook his head "You'd better".

Bullets began to fly past the King Raven as Dean looked down. They were currently passing over Timgad Station, the area they were to wait at in order to board the train. Jace looked below "This place is crawling with them!" He turned to a now awake Gary and Josh "Come on! We'll start clearing the way for Delta!" The pilots took the chopper lower as Dean, Max, Nash and Elise gave the others cover. Jace, Gary and Josh jumped the last ten feet and landed near the station house. They entered the house and waved the chopper away. The pilots raised the chopper into the air and flew towards the bridge.

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Gary took cover near a window that had a decent view of the entire station, well at least the part that was crawling with locust. Gary didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad one but at the moment he didn't particularly care. Bullets flew through the window, barely missing Josh! Josh screamed and jumped to the side as a boomer fired an explosive projectile towards them! It detonated against the back wall. Jace took a grenade from his belt and threw it towards the boomer! The brute looked down and his face quickly changed from one of anger to one of utter surprise! The grenade detonated and showered the locust with blood!

Josh noticed a flight of stairs and sprinted up them as the bullets continued to fly. There were some sandbags near the lone window and Josh rested his lancer on top of them. He released a concentrated spray, severing a drone's right arm before moving the fire slightly to remove it's head. Gary hit the floor and covered his ears as another boomer fired yet another explosive projectile which detonated near the wall, stunning Gary slightly. He lost hearing in his left ear for a short while. Jace lobbed another grenade, blowing two locust into the sky! They landed with a thud beside their comrades, resulting in a harsh screech from the Theron Guards!

Josh released another stream of fire from his lancer, caving in a drones torso. He reloaded quickly, a trick he'd mastered during his time on the isles. He took aim at a Theron who was charging an arrow. He removed it's head with one well aimed bullet! The Theron fell forward and the arrow flew from the chamber sticking in the ground in front of it. It detonated taking another drone with it! Gary screamed with joy "Take this you locust bastards! This is for Biggs!" Gary downed three locust before switching to his Longshot. He took aim carefully, he was thankful for the fact that these locust seemed to be blind! He breathed out slowly and watched the bullet fly from the chamber and then the Theron's head exploding in a pink spray of blood!

Jace yelled as he downed yet another drone "Keep hittin them, keep hittin them!" He hit the floor as more bullets flew through the window. A locust ran through the door, Hammerburst in hand! Josh noticed from the large hole in the floor and leapt towards it, stabbing it in the face with his combat knife! Gary looked in disbelief as the man he once knew as 'timid and fearful' performing the bravest act out of them all! Josh returned to his window and released another stream of fire, a smug smile upon his face thinking "No respect like self respect!"

Two more drones ran through the door! Gary rammed his bayonet straight through the first and then pulled it free! Jace jumped at the other and tackled it to the ground! Gary placed his foot to it's throat and rammed the bayonet into it's chest! Jace got up and kicked it in the skull before shooting it three times! The gears gave each other an approving nod and then returned to their respective areas. Gary lifted the dead locusts Hammerburst and smiled. He blind fired through the window and was alerted to a whistle from Josh "Damn Gary you hit him between the eyes!"

Josh shouted down "Need lancer ammo!" Jace lifted the second Hammerburst and threw it through the hole in the floor "That'll have to do!" Josh lifted the weapon "If it kills them and shoots bullets I don't give a flying fuck!" Gary laughed "Didn't know fucks flew! Damn you blind sucker!" Gary moved his head into cover as more bullets flew through the window. Gary glanced to the right and picked up a small box. He opened it and laughed. It held the old style grenades. He pulled the pin out with his teeth and waited as it blew up beside a car, taking three locust out with it! Gary slide the box towards Jace after setting four at his own feet. He dropped down and reached for another. Jace and he removed the pins and hurled them out the window! Josh took out another as he watched the grenades detonate. The gears continued to fire, slowly hacking away the locust horde, one locust at a time!

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Dean looked at the street below. The Brumak lay upon the street with Marcus and Dom standing before it. Dom cast his team a disbelieving look "Did they? No way! They took a fucking Brumak!" Nash shook his head "We'll Marcus I see your still as badass as you used to be! Get your assess in here, we'll take you to Timgad!"

Baird and Cole ran towards Marcus and Dom. Cole looked at Max "Yo player how you been?" Max gave him a two finger salute "Pretty damn good! All aboard Cole Train!" The Raven landed a few feet from Delta Squad. The Raven rose into the air and flew back towards Timgad Station, back towards madness.

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Gary killed another locust with his Longshot, he switched to his pendulum era lancer and released a steady stream of fire. Josh downed another before touching his tac/com "Rose tell me the satellites are overhead". Rose replied with an obvious sign on worry and sadness "Sorry Josh, we've got Nemacyst inking the skies!" Josh punched the wall and continued firing. Jace ran out the door and downed two locust attempting to flank. He looked down the train tracks "Control where's the train?" Rose replied quickly "I'm sorry Jace but the locust have took control of it! Your running out of time".

Gary pulled his head into safety "Jace get your ass in here! I counted about seventeen locust rushing us!" Jace dove through the door just as the locust began to fire. Before they could do anything they heard the noise of rooter blades and then chain gun fire! Dean sat at the chain gun, mowing down any locust fool enough to rear their ugly head! Marcus and Dom threw a rope off the side and slide down it, landing near the house. Dom looked into the distance "Marcus! Here comes the train!" Marcus turned quickly as the train flew past them. They waited and then leapt into the final car! Cole was obviously annoyed "Ah shit, damn grubs!"

Dean, Max and Nash slide down the rope, barely avoiding the incoming fire. Dean looked at Baird "Follow that train! We'll get pickup soon. GO!" The chopper rose and flew towards the train. Cole looked at Max "Good luck guys".

Dean and the others ran into the building and prepared to wait out the locust. This was it, this was their last stand. Each gear gripped their weapons. They were ready to fight, ready to die if need be. The line was drawn, there would be no retreat and each one of them knew it.

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. If you liked this then please leave a review, thanks for reading!


	13. Battle at Timgad

Lightmass Offensive

Chapter 13

Dean felled another drone with a six shot burst from his Hammerburst. The locust seemed desperate, something Dean and the others had never seen before. The locust attacked quickly and decisively, trying to flank the gears from multiple sides, but they also made mistakes they never made before. In their haste they often sat with their heads or other body part visible, something Max and Gary didn't miss. Their Longshots were removing arms and heads almost as though they were playing a carnival game where you needed to hit the most targets within a certain time to win.

Nash was using his twin gorgon pistols, stopping the locust outflanking them. He released a three shot burst and caved in the chest of a drone, spraying the area with blood. Another climbed out of an e-hole just for Nash to shoot him! The drone stared at his wound and then fell backwards, knocking another drone down along with him. Jace turned quickly and removed the pin from a grenade and hurled it towards the e-hole. It bounced along the edge before finally falling, earning a comical expression from Nash "That grenade was like the ball the Cougars played in one of their last games, it just seemed to bounce before it finally fell".

Dean touched his tac/com "Mayday, mayday! Dawn Squad under heavy fire at Timgad Station, locust number, a shit I don't know! Just get us some reinforcement!" Max shook his head and growled, he was pissed off and Dean couldn't blame him. Max removed another drones head "Ah shit they just keep coming!" Gary laughed as he downed another "Take it all bitch! This my kinda shit!" Nash looked towards him "You ain't the Cole Train Gary!" Gary shrugged his shoulders with no reply.

Elise tossed Dean a few mags for the Hammerburst and a few lancer mags to Gary and Josh "I stocked up before I left!" Dean slotted the mag into place and continued shooting, the locust weren't showing any signs of slowing. Josh looked down at Dean as he reloaded "Who's the big grub in the back?" A large drone stood pointing towards the building Dawn were holed up in. He had a metal plate across the left side of his face. Dean looked towards him and wondered how he functioned with such a thing. The large drone looked more like a boomer and the gears soon ducked when they saw what weapon he had. It was a modified Troika and he was firing it with one hand!

Nash looked at the locust, he was unbelievably large and his muscles were equally so. Nash sighed and shook his head "What the hell did they feed him!? That bitch is built like a damn assault derrick! I mean come on, look at him! That guy would put Cole to shame!"

Max ran up the stairs and took up position beside Josh. He looked out the window and took aim at the large locust "Damn that guys ugly! Come on pop your head out, come on, come on, come on". Josh was practically praying for the locust to do as he was told "That's it!" Max pulled the trigger but the bullet bounced off his metal plating. Max clenched his fists in anger and soon ducked as the large locust fired upon them, with rage in his right eye! Gary noticed immediately and removed his Longshot from his back. He knew he wasn't as good a shot as Max was so he looked at Nash. Nash took the gun and took aim at the locust. Gary gave him all the cover he could, he sprayed the station quickly with whatever weapons he could get his hands on, heck he even fired a few bursts from Nash's gorgon pistols.

Nash breathed out and steadied his hands. At the moment only three things mattered, Nash himself, the locust and the gun. He pulled the trigger and the bullet flew from the chamber towards the locust! A grin came to Nash's face but it soon turned to anger and hatred. The large locust grabbed one of his own drones and used him as a meat shield! The gears were disgusted by his behaviour towards his own soldiers, he was defiantly a locust big shot. Dean shook with rage, he wasn't angry because the drone was dead, he was angry because the locust didn't give a damn about his soldiers.

Nash reached for his gorgon pistols after returning the Longshot to Gary only to find an empty holster. He looked at Gary with one eyebrow raised. He removed the pistols from his hand and slapped his hand "My gun!" Nash screwed his face up and stuck out his tongue at the same time, earning a small smile from Gary and the others.

Dean touched his tac/com as Colonel Hoffman came online "We got your request Dawn and reinforcements are on the way, ETA fifteen to twenty minutes".

Dean looked as though he was struck with a ton of bricks "Fifteen to twenty minutes!? What kinda shit you tryin to feed me here!? We need those men now Colonel, not tomorrow, or did you forget we got locust halfway up our ass!?"

Colonel Hoffman was obviously surprised by the outburst "Listen soldier they'll be there, all you have to do is live". Dean was seething and he reluctantly bit his tongue "Yes sir". Dean wanted to call him a stupid bag of hot air that was good for nothing more but licking the COGs ass, but that would probably result in a court marshal, something he didn't particularly want or need.

Nash shook his head "Twenty minutes my ass! It didn't take us that long to get here, or did it? Got a joke for you! "Knock knock". Dean shook his head "Who's there?" "You ever hear the joke about the broken pencil?" Dean rolled his eyes "You ever hear the joke about the broken pencil who?" Nash downed another locust "Never mind, it's pointless". The others couldn't help but smile. Dean removed the right arm of a drone with his Hammerburst "Bro got any more? I think were gonna need them!"

Nash reloaded his gorgon pistols and breathed in before speaking "Once there were three Kryll. They lived in a cave surrounded by three cities. One night the Kryll made a bet to see who could drink the most blood. The first Kryll comes home one night and has blood dripping off his fangs. The other two Kryll are amazed and asked how much blood he had drunk. The first Kryll said, "See that city over there? I drank the blood of three people."

"The second Kryll goes out on his night and comes back with blood around his mouth. The other two Kryll are astonished and ask how many people's blood had he drunk. The Kryll said, "See that city over there? I drank the blood of five people."

"The third Kryll goes out on his night and comes back covered in blood. This was totally amazing to the other two Kryll. They ask how much blood he drank. The 3rd Kryll said, "See that city over there?" and the other Kryll nod. "Well," says the third Kryll, "I didn't." It earned a smile and several laughs from the others. Nash shook his head "Okay no more, we need to kill these guys!"

He jumped up and downed two more locust, but they were simply replaced by others. Two boomers walked towards the station house with their trademark Boomshots in their large hands. They released explosive projectiles quickly, pinning the gears down! Jace ripped the pin from a grenade with his mouth and hurled it towards the boomers. The grenade bounced off one of their heads and they simply laughed loudly! It detonated a few feet from them causing little or no damage. Dean looked at Max "Follow me, I've got a plan. Bro cover us!" Nash primed both his guns and took position near the door "I got your cover right here bro, don't worry. I've got your back like a but crack!" He raised his hand "One…two" He nodded his head and whispered four words in his brothers ear "Don't you dare die! Three!"

Dean and Max ran from the station house towards a nearby truck! Nash downed two drones and then a third "You bitch ass grubs ain't getting no where near _my _bro!" He downed two others yelling as he did so! He jumped into cover as Jace leapt out to sustain the fire! He switched mags quickly and skilfully downing another drone before Nash even had his second mag slotted in. Jace leapt back in and returned to the window as Nash jumped out and blew the head off another drone, spraying the cars and locust with blood. He brought his head in as the two boomers walked around the corner "BOOM" echoing as they moved!

Dean looked back and pushed Max to the ground as an explosive projectile flew past them and detonated near their position. The two looked at each other and then up at the large metal faced locust. Dean waved at him comically "Hey big guy, I've got a present for ya!" Dean jumped to his feet and punched the locust across the face with his Hammerburst. The large locust turned his head to face him, the only injury he'd sustained was a slight bruise on his cheek. Dean smacked him again and then looked at him as the locust closed it's large fist and smacked him across the face! The locust was so strong Dean actually lifted from his feet and smacked into the side of a nearby truck!

Nash jumped out and blew the heads off both boomers with a well aimed burst from his gorgon pistols! He looked towards Dean and Max and before he knew what he was doing he had broken into a sprint, not even taking the time to reload his weapons.

Max rushed towards his friend and stood above him. He handed Dean the modified lancer and took his Hammerburst, the two knew immediately what the other was thinking. But their plan was ruined as the locust raised the modified Troika. The two gears saw their lives pass before their eyes, the good times and the bad. They closed their eyes and accepted their sad fate.

Dean heard something that sounded nothing like gunfire and he opened his eyes to see his older brother on the locusts back, pounding the top of it's head with his right elbow! Nash threw his arms around his neck and squeezed with all his might! The veins on his arms and neck rose as he applied more pressure. Dean stared in disbelief! His brother was actually overpowering something as large and strong as a boomer, if not more so! Nash grunted "Think you can kill my brother? Oh fuck no! Not on my watch you big shit eating bastard! DIE!" Dean held his jaw and looked at the locust, his pain was replaced by anger as he ran forward and kicked it between the legs! The locust moaned in pain as he fell to his knees.

Nash gritted his teeth as the locust continued his struggle, he felt a sharp pain in his ribs but he blocked it out. The coldness of the metal plate annoyed Nash's arm but he wasn't about to let go! As he saw it, it was him or his brother. Nash's expression was replaced with one of sheer determination, he was going to save his brother.

Nash applied more pressure, Dean could see the determination in his brothers eyes, he wasn't letting go until that locust was dead. Nash moved his arms quickly to the right and then the left, and then back again, snapping the large locusts neck. He released his grip and removed both his gorgon pistols. He pulled each trigger and shot six bullets into it's skull! Nash was exhausted and he fell forward into his brothers arms. Dean looked as his brother smiled at him "Remember what I told you when we were kids?" Nash's words were slow and seemed to bring him pain, something Dean had never heard before, especially from someone as lively as his brother.

Dean thought back to the time Nash saved him and his brothers lives. When they were cowering in the cupboard that hid them Nash told him something that stuck with him throughout the rest of his live "Don't worry kiddo. No matter what happens I'll be here for you. Those bastards have to go through me to get to any of you. You have my word". The promise was sealed by a smile, a smile Dean had saw every time he was in trouble.

Dean looked at his brother with tearful eyes "You overpowered him? I mean look at the size of him! He's about nine foot!" Nash struggled to his feet, he had put everything he had into killing the massive locust and he was physically exhausted. Dean and Max carried him back towards the station house, carefully avoiding the bullets flying towards them. Nash was met with a cheer as he entered the door, earning a smile from the exhausted gear. He leaned against the wall and removed one of his trademark gorgon pistols.

Dean couldn't believe the feat of strength his brother just achieved. He knew his brother was strong, but that locust big shot was huge! His neck seemed more like a barrel than a neck and Nash was able to break it like a twig. A proud expression crossed Dean's face as his fellow gears nodded their heads in acknowledgement towards Nash.

Nash slide down the wall and sat on his the floor, Jace moved from the window to cover the door. Dean sat beside his brother "Will you be okay?" Nash had never heard as much worry in his younger brothers voice in all his life and he did his best to convince him he was fine.

Elise handed Dean more ammo "I'll look after him, make sure those locust stay off us". Dean glanced at his brother again, he wasn't stupid. He knew something was up. He lifted his brothers limp arm without much resistance, revealing a trail of blood near his ribs "What the hell? What happened?" Deans worry was multiplied tenfold.

Nash looked at the wound "He must've had something sharp on his back, I felt something stab me but I'm fucked if I know what it was". Elise sat beside him and inspected the wound. There was an object lodged inside which greatly resembled metal spikes from a suit of locust armour. She looked at Dean with worry as Gary, Max, Josh and Jace held the fort. Nash placed his hand on his brothers arm "Fire on those locust bastards, this is nothing you hear me? I made another promise, ye know? I told mum and dad that I wouldn't leave you alone".

Dean nodded his head and decided to listen to his brother, he knew if he stayed he'd only injure his brothers pride more. He gripped his Hammerburst with no reluctance. His doubts were replaced with anger and rage, he was going to root out the locust. He lifted his finger and touched his tac/com "Dom, Marcus. Do me a favour and drop the lightmass bomb. I don't give a fuck anymore, I just wanna see the locust burn!"

He moved in towards Elise and whispered in her ear so quietly it bothered her to hear him "Look after him for me okay? He's the only family I've got left that isn't either lost or dead, please look after him". A gentle smile came to her face as she leaned forward to peck him on the cheek "He'll be fine, now go before we get overrun".

Dean was now reluctant to go but he soon snapped out of his fantasy world and returned to his grim reality.

He walked towards the window and felled a drone before moving onto the next. There was no emotion in his face, save for hatred and rage. He couldn't do anything to the locust who injured his brother but he could certainly punish his troops. He emptied another mag and reached for his Torque Bow. He charged the arrow and pierced the skull of a boomer! The large beast fell silent as it's limp body hit the floor. He charged another arrow and closed an e-hole, showering the station with the body parts of the unfortunate drone climbing out.

Max had never seen him like this and it was beginning to scare him. Nash on the other hand was smiling. He coughed blood and laughed aloud "Father! I hope your watching your son now, because you'd be proud of him!" Elise placed her hand to his forehead, he had a fever which only made his condition worse. Nash moved his head to the side and saw a drone approach from the corner of his eye. For some reason it had no weapon which only served to confuse Nash. The drone surprised the others by bursting through the open door and kicking Jace in the chest before advancing and smacking Elise to the ground!

Nash looked up. Anger swelled within him and he rose to his feet. Every fibre of his being and every thought that entered his mind ordered him to stop but his heart told him otherwise and Nash was a man who followed his heart. The drone looked towards him, a snarling smile crossing it's deformed face. It threw a right hook towards Nash, who ducked below and slammed his fist into it's midsection! The drone growled with rage and caught Nash's hand. Nash braced himself and head butted the drone, hitting it right between the eyes!

Both staggered a moment, but it was Nash who recovered first. He moved to punch it but his body finally gave out. He clutched his ribs and fell to his knees. Before the drone could act Dean tackled it to the ground, not caring about his own safety! He slammed his elbow into it's face and then delivered three quick jabs! The drone was still breathing, but Dean was determined to make it stop. He placed his foot to it's throat and pressed down, cutting of it's air supply! His face was full of anger and hate as he did it. Max looked at his friend and delivered a powerful kick to the drones skull. Both retuned to the window and continued shooting.

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Suddenly Dean stopped shooting. He looked at whatever piece of the sky he could see from his window and smiled. Three King Raven helicopters flew towards them, their rooter blades getting more and more distinct. Suddenly the rooters were drowned out by the sound of gunfire. The remainder of Alpha 7 sat upon the chain guns.

Dean's face lit up as he saw his godfather, Col. Gael Barrington, a man who served with his father during the pendulum wars and last remaining friend who was still alive. He was one of the few colonels who survived e-day and treated Dean, Nash and their two brothers like his own sons. The locust tried to fight back but they were soon outmatched. Gael lifted a Longspear rocket launcher from the floor of his raven and slotted a missile into the chamber. He took aim at the locust and fired! The missile created a decent sized explosion which closed more than a few e-holes. The remaining locust turned tail and ran!

Dean leapt from the window and ran towards the nearest locust! He tackled it to the ground and mercilessly pounded it's face in, long after it was dead! He reached for his Hammerburst "Running away won't help! Fine let me know what it feels like to get a bullet in the ass!" He fired until his mag emptied.

Max walked towards him with quick strides. Dean met his gaze and flashed him a thumbs up "That was satisfying". Max looked at the dead locust and kicked it in the ribs to make sure "Yup he's dead". Both men looked towards the King Raven that landed near the station house. There were no longer any cars to worry about, the boomers had seen to that problem well enough.

Jace and Gary carried Nash towards it and placed him upon the floor. He gritted his teeth as pain surged through his entire body. Dean was thankful his brother was still alive.

He walked towards Elise who was holding her jaw. She was still recovering from the blow the drone gave her. Dean moved her hand with his own and inspected her jawbone, she was lucky, it wasn't fractured or broken. She looked into his eyes and suddenly started to apologize "I'm sorry about Nash, I, I…" Dean pulled her towards him and kissed her. She was surprised but she didn't resist.

Dean smiled at her "No problem, let's get outta this hell hole". They all boarded the raven as it lurched forward and then up.

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The flight back was one of suspense, they still hadn't heard any word from Delta and they were beginning to worry. Dean looked down at his brother who was sleeping peacefully, well with the occasional expression of pain but apart from that he was at peace.

They soon flew over Ephyra City. Small camps filled with stranded could still be see from above, and even the occasional fire fight. But there job was done and they weren't firing any more today, they were returning for some much needed rest…

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I'll have the next chapter posted soon. Oh yeah if you didn't like the jokes then I apologize. If you liked then please leave a review. Thanks for reading!


	14. The Finale

Lightmass Offensive

This is the final chapter of Lightmass Offensive. I'd just like to take this chance to thank everyone who has read this fic. Thanks again for the comments, especially Jord, thanks again man! I hope you enjoy the final chapter, but who knows I may write a sequel.

Chapter 14

The King Raven carrying Dean, Max, Gary, Josh and Elise descended towards the southern platform. Dawn Squad practically fell out of the Raven, they were that tired. Dean cast a worried expression towards the King Raven that was carrying his brother. He saw a medical team approach the chopper and he summoned whatever strength he had left and sprinted with all speed towards his brother.

He pushed his way past two gears and sprinted down the corridor! Tears welled within his eyes as he pushed past another gear who turned and shouted "Watch where your going ya little punk!" Max cast him a vicious, hostile glare as he ran past him "His brothers on deaths door you moron!"

The gear was instantly silenced. The remaining members of Dawn Squad weren't far behind. Nash wasn't just a brother to Dean, he was also one to Max who lost his entire family on e-day. But for Gary he was a friend, he didn't know him long but he cared about him as did Josh and Elise.

Colonel Hoffman was nearly knocked on his ass as Dean pushed past him "Sergeant! Get back here!"

"Go fuck yourself Hoffman!" came the angry reply from Dean!

Hoffman was struck silent as Max and the others ran past him.

Dean stopped as he looked upon his brother, who was smiling! Nash caught his hand "Don't worry kiddo, I made a promise". With that the medics wheeled him towards the hospital. Dean followed his brother with his eyes. He wouldn't be able to be there for him while the doctors saw to him but he was with him where it counted.

Max caught up to his friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder "He'll be fine man. If there's one thing about Nash Stratton that I've learned it's that he's built tough. He'll be on his feet in no time! Count on it".

Dean nodded his agreement and walked back towards his room, his heart heavy with worry.

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Dean awoke with a cold sweat above his brew. He checked his clock, he'd only slept for three hours. He dreamt about the large locust, only this time he stood above his brothers hospital bed with a menacing smile upon his face with his large shovel like hand clenched!

Dean equipped his army quickly and walked with quick strides towards the hospital. Although the contents of his dream would have been impossible to occur his worry for his brother was clouding his mind.

He burst through the door and sighed a sigh of relieve as he gazed upon his restless, but very much alive brother. He gazed across at the couch in the room and stretched himself out on it, falling asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

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He was woken by the sound of cheering. He walked into the hall of the hospital and saw Dominic Santiago standing beside Marcus Fenix, both had weary looks upon their faces. Dean ran towards them with quick strides "Did you detonate it!?"

Dom turned to face him and flashed him a thumbs up. Dean nodded his head, a broad grin upon his face. It was actually turning into a pretty good day, his brother was going to be fine and the Lightmass bomb had been detonated, potentially obliterating the locust horde!

He returned to his brothers room and stared at him as he slowly opened his eyes "Well bro? What's the verdict?" Life had returned to Nash's voice, something which comforted Dean to no end. His brother was back, his family.

He turned as he felt someone look at him. His eyes widened as he looked at Elise. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail and the sun was setting in the horizon behind her. In Dean's eyes the scene just added to her beauty and he walked towards her warm smile with quick strides, a smile upon his own face.

He stopped just before her and placed his hand on her waist before moving in to kiss her. Nash smiled as he saw it and started to clap his hands together. All the gears present, including Dom and Marcus clapped also. Dean couldn't help but be embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head in a comical fashion, his day was beginning to look a lot better.

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Max was studying the list of new civilians entering Jacinto until his eyes fell upon the one name he was looking for, Samantha, his older sister! He looked at the address and ran towards it with all speed!

He walked down a street he'd walked down countless times before on his way to the bar. He stopped outside the door and knocked it loudly. A young women with medium-length brown hair answered the door, with a small child, only about three or four years old. Max was lost for words but summoned the strength he needed and asked "Are you Samantha? Samantha Anders?"

The women looked at him strangely before hugging him "Max! I've spent the last fifteen years looking for you! Come in".

Max looked at the little kid as he shied away "Is the kid…yours?"

Samantha smiled "Yes. He's called John".

Max knelt before the child and smiled "Hey John, I'm your Uncle Max! You look just like your grandfather!"

"My grandfather was a war hero" replied John in a lively tone, earning a smile from Max.

Max picked him up "You named him after dad. Who's the father?"

Samantha suddenly turned away, the topic obviously saddened her so Max decided to drop it.

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Dean stood along with several other gears, Max standing beside him. Chairman Prescott was just about to deliver a speech about the Lightmass bombing.

Max stood with little John beside him, who was wearing his uncles medal, awarded for bravery in the face of adversity.

Dean had received one also, but Nash had received the most prestigious award. He received one for valour, strength and courage beyond the call of duty and wore it proudly on his chest. He was still confined to his wheelchair, something that made him feel restricted, but he bore with it.

Prescott approached the microphone and took a deep breathe "Yesterday your fellow gears successfully deployed the Lightmass bomb. We have Intel that states the locust horde had been decimated. I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all the men and women who gave their lives in defence of our world. Now the humans of Sera can enjoy a time of peace we have never known and it is thanks to all of you!"

The gears present cheered loudly. Dean looked at the scene with a broad grin upon his face _"I helped defeat the locust"_ he thought as he patted his brother on the back. Nash looked up at him and then skywards _"Mom, Dad, I hope your watching this. Your son had become a hero!"_

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_Dean stood before Colonel Hoffman "Colonel, I'd like to apologize for all the things I said to you. I was overcome in the heat of the moment, please forgive me"._

_Hoffman smiled at the young Sergeant and stretched out his hand "I understand soldier, but know that I won't take it in the future! Now go return to your girl"._

_Dean happily obliged after shaking the Colonels hand, walking away with a new respect for the man._

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_I hope you enjoyed the final chapter. Thanks to all the people who have read this fic._


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